名落孙山

名落孙山

Literally means:

fail in competitive examination

Actually means:

落, come after or lag behind. This idiom comes from story in ancient China about a candidate named Sun Shan who came out the last on the list of recruited government officials.

Therefore coming after Sun Shan means failing to appear on the list of successful candidates. It figuratively means failing to get enrolled or employed in competitions. Derogatory.

落，掉在外面或后面。中国古代有个叫孙山的人参加选拔官员的考试，虽然被录取了，但却是录取名单上最后的一个。

名落孙山，名字落在孙山外面，即录取名单上没有名字。比喻求学不被录取，求职不被录用，或参加选拔时没有被选中。具有贬义色彩。