i was watching autumn's concerto and the skeevy stepdad guy was talking to mu chen and used the phrase "turtle in a vase", the music went all "dun dun DUN!!!!" like it was really serious. i get the feeling it's kinda dirty, but i really have no idea what it means. anyone know what this idiom means? i googled but came up with nothing.
I watched that drama too, and from what I gathered he was alluding to sex. I think some people try to eat turtles to enhance their libido. (basically he was being a super creepy perv)

*edit* After looking it up, I found results about turtle eggs, not full grown turtles...
that dude does skeevy so well, i dont think i will ever be able to look at him the same way in other dramas again.
I believe this is a Mandarin idiom meaning trapped. You place a baby turtle in a vase, eventually the vase will be inescapable as the turtle grows to large to pass through the neck of the vase. Chen has been in the vase, the nasty old farts home since she was very young, and has had to endure his perversity to survive. In his mind she is trapped.