一瓶子不响,半瓶子晃荡

yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang

lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)

fig. empty vessels make the most noise

一

yī

one

瓶

píng

variant of 瓶[ping2]

子

zi

noun suffix, as in 椅子[yi3 zi5] "chair"

不

bù

no; not so

响

xiǎng

echo

,

,

半

bàn

half

瓶

píng

variant of 瓶[ping2]

子

zi

noun suffix, as in 椅子[yi3 zi5] "chair"

晃

huàng

to sway

荡

dang

to wash