Open a book to benefit

[GoodTaste]

Does "Open a book to benefit" sound natural in English?

The phrase "Open a book to benefit" is a direct translation by me from a Chinese idiom which means "Something, which is beneficial to you, is learned every time a book is opened." So tranditionally it encourages people to read books. It doesn't mean you have to read a book completely; it tends to mean you should open books often to be inspried.

[tedmc]

The phrase doesn't ring a bell in English. Most of the sayings are about the benefits of reading or reading books, such as the following:

Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body

Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

[teechar]

Does "Open a book to benefit" sound natural in English?

No. It does not exist in English.

The phrase "Open a book to benefit" is a direct translation by me from a Chinese idiom

And how many times have we told you and other learners that idioms do not translate across languages?
Sometimes, languages can have similar idioms, but generally speaking, most idioms are language-specific.

Note that I have moved your thread to the appropriate section of the forum.

[teechar]

The phrase doesn't ring a bell in English.

It doesn't exist in English.

Most of the sayings are about the benefits of reading or reading books

What does that mean?

such as the following:
Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body
Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

Someone might have written those, but I wouldn't say they're idioms. They're certainly not commonly used.

[tedmc]

It doesn't exist in English.

That was why I said they didn't ring a bell.

I think the saying in Chinese about the "opening of a book" has its origin in ancient times in China thousands of years ago. In those days, it took some effort to open a book because they were not printed on paper but written on heavy bamboo scrolls which were cumbersome to handle and was the privilege of the learned class. Thus the opening of a book was associated with serious reading and acquisition of knowledge which could only be beneficial to the reader. It contrasts with the books that western civilisation were used to, where the people would not think much about the mere action of opening of a book. Thus the saying in Chinese appears alien to Westerners when translated to their language.


What does that mean?

The famous quotes are about the reading in general or about reading books, but not about opening books.

Someone might have written those, but I wouldn't say they're idioms. They're certainly not commonly used.


They are famous sayings from the past; I didn't say they are idioms.

.

[GoodTaste]

OK. Just "Reading enriches the mind."

[tedmc]

OK. Just "Reading enriches the mind."

That's quite different from the original though.

[PeterCW]

In BrE slang "open a book" can also mean starting to take bets on something.

[Charlie Bernstein]

That's quite different from the original though.

The original doesn't mean anything in English. We simply don't have a phrase that matches up well.

[emsr2d2]

There's one doing the rounds on social media at the moment that reads something like "A mind is like a book - it's only any use if it's open".