名落孙山

1. • lit. to fall behind Sun Shan 孙山 sūnshān (who came last in the imperial examination) (idiom)
2. • fig. to fail an exam
3. • to fall behind (in a competition)

Character by character

• 名(míng)name
• 落(luò)fall or drop
• 孙(sūn)surname Sun
• 山(shān)surname Shan