十八般武艺

十八般武艺

Literally means:

skills in wielding the 18 kinds of weapons

Actually means:

versatile

武艺 refers to skills of martial arts. This phrase originally means skills in wielding 18 kinds of weapons, including reamer, spear and sword, etc.

Now it figuratively means one is skillful in various fields of work. It is often used to indicate that a person is versatile or that an object has various functions. Commendatory.

武艺，武术上的本领。一旧时指在使用刀、枪、剑等十八种兵器方面的本领。

现在比喻人的多种技能。多指一个人掌握很多技能，有时也用来形容器物具有多种功能。具有褒义色彩。