Meaning:
This saying is literally translated as “The ideal is plump, but the reality is bony.” It’s a humorous saying coined by the Chinese young to mildly complain about the setbacks they are confronted with in life. This saying uses a metaphor to describe the drastic gap between a person’s expectations and real life.
Example:
A: 你网购的恐龙抱枕到货了吗？
Nǐ wǎnggòu de kǒnglóng bàozhěn dàohuò le ma？
Has the dinosaur pillow you bought online arrived?
B: 到了，可是理想很丰满，现实很骨感。根本就不是恐龙形状的抱枕，只是一个普通长方形的枕头，上面印了恐龙图案而已。
Dào le，kěshì lǐxiǎng hěn fēngmǎn，xiànshí hěn gǔgǎn。 Gēnběn jiù búshì kǒnglóng xíngzhuàng de bàozhěn，zhīshì yīgè pǔtōng zhǎngfāngxíng de zhěntóu，shàngmiàn yìn le kǒnglóng túàn éryǐ。
Yes, but it didn’t meet my expectations. In fact, it’s not a pillow in the shape of a dinosaur, but a regular rectangular pillow with a dinosaur printed on its case.