有的通俗谚语、成语只能意译，如“一马平川” (a wide expanse of flat land;vast-stretching plain)之类。意译是常见的翻译手法， 翻译的效果孰优孰劣也是众说纷纭，但不太涉及典故、文化持色的对应的意译普遍易于被人接受。如下面的例子。

分道扬镳to break ranks 

墨守成规 to slick to the mud 

铜墙铁壁 bastion of iron 

不辞而别 to take French leave 

临危不惧to face the music 

风平浪静 be right up and down 

拾人牙慧 second-hand ideas 

捉襟见肘 to be out at elbows 

自讨苦吃 be riding for a fall 

实事求是 come down to earth 

了如指掌 at one's fingertips 

废话连篇 to beat one's gums 

根深蒂固 to be in the grain 

深恶痛绝 to hate like poison 

归根结底 in the final analysis 

寻根究底 get down to bedrock 

各行其是 to blow one's own horn 

改过自新 to turn over a new life 

狐假虎威 the tiger behind the fox 

风餐露宿 to brave the wind and dew 

天伦之乐 primordial human joys