食古不化 in English shi2 gu3 bu4 hua4 Meaning

Meanings

• to swallow ancient learning without digesting it (idiomatic expression)
• to be pedantic without having a mastery of one's subject

Pinyin

shi2 gu3 bu4 hua4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

食shi2to eat 古gu3surname Gu 不bu4(negative prefix) 化hua4variant of 花[hua1]