反唇相讥 fǎn chún xiāng jī retort sarcastically

Explanation

受到指责不服气，反过来讥讽对方。

To retort to someone who criticizes you by sarcastically mocking them.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，有一个非常聪明的秀才，名叫李白。一次，他去参加科举考试，主考官是一位非常严厉的官员，出了许多刁钻古怪的题目，李白虽然才华横溢，但由于题目太过刁钻，他一时难以答复。主考官见李白迟迟未能作答，便出言讽刺道："年轻人，你自诩才华横溢，怎么连这么简单的题目都答不上来？"李白听后，并没有沮丧，反而巧妙地反唇相讥，他说："大人，您出题如此刁钻古怪，难道是想考我的记忆力，而不是我的才华吗？"

huà shuō táng cháo shí qī, yǒu yīgè fēicháng cōngmíng de xiù cái, míng jiào lǐ bái. yī cì, tā qù cān jiā kē jǔ kǎoshì, zhǔ kǎoguān shì yī wèi fēicháng yán lì de guān yuán, chū le xǔ duō diāo zuān guǎiguài de tímù, lǐ bái suīrán cái huá héng yì, dàn yóuyú tímù tài guò diāo zuān, tā yī shí nán yǐ dáfù. zhǔ kǎoguān jiàn lǐ bái chíchí wèi néng zuò dá, biàn chū yán fěngcì dào: "nián qīng rén, nǐ zì xǔ cái huá héng yì, zěnme lián zhème jiǎndān de tímù dōu dá bù shàng lái?" lǐ bái tīng hòu, bìng méiyǒu jǔsàng, fǎn'ér qiǎomiào de fǎn chún xiāng jī, tā shuō: "dà rén, nín chū tí rúcǐ diāo zuān guǎiguài, nán dào shì xiǎng kǎo wǒ de jìyì lì, ér bù shì wǒ de cái huá ma?"

It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, there was a very intelligent scholar named Li Bai. Once, he went to take the imperial examination. The chief examiner was a very strict official who set many tricky and bizarre questions. Although Li Bai was very talented, he could not answer them for a while because the questions were too tricky. When the chief examiner saw that Li Bai had not answered for a long time, he sarcastically said: "Young man, you boast of your great talent, but you can't even answer such simple questions?" Li Bai, however, was not discouraged and cleverly retorted: "Your Excellency, are you setting such tricky and bizarre questions to test my memory, not my talent?"

Usage

用于形容一个人受到指责后，不服气，反过来讥讽对方。

yòng yú xíngróng yīgè rén shòudào zhǐzé hòu, bù fú qì, fǎn guò lái jīfěng duìfāng

Used to describe a situation where someone is criticized but instead of admitting their mistake, they retort with sarcasm.

Examples

• 面对批评，他非但不认错，反而反唇相讥。

  miàn duì pīpíng, tā fēi dàn bù rèn cuò, fǎn'ér fǎn chún xiāng jī

  Instead of admitting his mistake, he retorted to the criticism.

• 小明考试不及格，反唇相讥老师出的题太难。

  xiǎo míng kǎoshì bù jí gé, fǎn chún xiāng jī lǎoshī chū de tí tài nán

  Xiaoming failed the exam and retorted that the teacher's questions were too difficult.

Related Idioms

• 顶嘴

• 反驳

• 讽刺

Opposite Idioms

• 哑口无言

• 无可奈何