"Shi bei gong ban" is a commonly used derogatory idiom. Its literal meaning is to expend twice the effort but achieve only half the result. It describes a clumsy approach or a wrong direction in doing things, resulting in extremely low efficiency and poor results. The idiom originates from the allusion in Mencius, Gongsun Chou I, which states, "Therefore, with half the effort of the ancients, the achievement will surely be doubled," but later generations used it in the opposite sense to form the expression "shi bei gong ban." In terms of cultural background, it reflects the admiration in traditional Chinese wisdom for "shi ban gong bei" (half the effort, double the result), emphasizing working smart rather than working blindly. It is mostly used to criticize inefficiency in work, study, or management, carrying an obvious emotional tone of regret, criticism, or self-mockery, and reminding people to pay attention to strategy and optimize their methods.
📝 Example
1. If you work overtime blindly without first clarifying your thoughts, you will only get half the results with twice the effort—wearing yourself out physically while still failing to complete the task. (Describing low efficiency, where much is given but little is gained.)
2. He learned a foreign language by rote memorization, and as a result, he got half the results with twice the effort—after six months, he still could not speak it. (Describing poor results caused by improper methods.)