掛羊頭賣狗肉
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See also: 挂羊头卖狗肉
Chinese
[edit]to hang; to put up; to suspend | goat's head | sell | dog meat | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (掛羊頭賣狗肉) | 掛 | 羊頭 | 賣 | 狗肉 | |
simp. (挂羊头卖狗肉) | 挂 | 羊头 | 卖 | 狗肉 | |
Literally: “to sell dog meat while hanging a goat's head outside the shop as an advertisement”. |
Etymology
[edit]Appeared in some Song dynasty books like 五燈會元 and 續傳燈錄, originally as 懸羊頭賣狗肉/悬羊头卖狗肉 (xuán yángtóu mài gǒuròu), for example:
Which in turn was a variant of 懸牛首賣馬肉/悬牛首卖马肉 in Yanzi chunqiu:
- 君使服之於內,而禁之於外,猶懸牛首於門,而賣馬肉於內也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Annals of Master Yan, c. 3rd century BCE
- Jūn shǐ fú zhī yú nèi, ér jìn zhī yú wài, yóu xuán niú shǒu yú mén, ér mài mǎròu yú nèi yě. [Pinyin]
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
君使服之于内,而禁之于外,犹悬牛首于门,而卖马肉于内也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
[edit]- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄚˋ ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄞˋ ㄍㄡˇ ㄖㄡˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: guà yángtóu mài gǒuròu
- Wade–Giles: kua4 yang2-tʻou2 mai4 kou3-jou4
- Yale: gwà yáng-tóu mài gǒu-ròu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guah yangtour may goourow
- Palladius: гуа янтоу май гоужоу (gua jantou maj goužou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ku̯ä⁵¹ jɑŋ³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ maɪ̯⁵¹ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐoʊ̯⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: gwaa3 joeng4 tau4 maai6 gau2 juk6
- Yale: gwa yèuhng tàuh maaih gáu yuhk
- Cantonese Pinyin: gwaa3 joeng4 tau4 maai6 gau2 juk9
- Guangdong Romanization: gua3 yêng4 teo4 mai6 geo2 yug6
- Sinological IPA (key): /kʷaː³³ jœːŋ²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ maːi̯²² kɐu̯³⁵ jʊk̚²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
[edit]掛羊頭賣狗肉
- (figurative) to cry wine and sell vinegar; to do a bait and switch; to use a good cause as a cover for doing something bad
Synonyms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- → Vietnamese: treo đầu dê bán thịt chó (calque)
- → Japanese: 羊頭を掲げて狗肉を売る (calque)