激将

to spur sb into action by making negative remarks

will / shall / to use / to take / to checkmate / just a short while ago / (introduces object of main verb, used in the same way as 把[ba3])

general / commander-in-chief (military) / king (chess piece) / to command / to lead

to desire / to invite / to request

(bound form) a general / (literary) to command; to lead / (Chinese chess) general (on the black side, equivalent to a king in Western chess)

to arouse / to incite / to excite / to stimulate / sharp / fierce / violent

indirect, psychological method of getting sb to do as one wishes (e.g. questioning whether they are up to the task)

lit. to dispatch a general is not as effective as to excite a general / fig. inciting people to action is more effective than dispatching orders