What does 出人头地 mean? The idiom 出人头地 chūréntóudì means “stand out among one’s fellows”. How to mix the above four words and arrive at the above meaning?
出人頭地


比喻超越他人，獨露頭角 Metaphor to surpass others, to stand alone


解釋： 讓他高出一頭。語本宋．歐陽修〈與梅聖俞書〉：「讀軾書，不覺汗出。快哉，快哉！老夫當避路，放他出一頭地也。』」後指超越他人，獨露頭角

出 = 超出 (Exceed); 高出 (higher than)
人 = people/ others
頭 = head (refers to the length of one head -- used here as a measuring unit)
地 = ground
The origin of '出人頭地' was  a quote from a famous scholar 歐陽修: '(放他)出一頭地' = '(give way and let him) get one head length of ground ahead'
Long story short,  歐陽修 read a great article and remarked &quot;This author is great, I should give way and let him get one head length of ground ahead of me (in future achievements)&quot;
The modern usage of 出人頭地 is 'to become successful in society' in general