打马虎眼 dǎ mǎ hu yǎn beat around the bush

Explanation

故意装糊涂，蒙骗人。

To deliberately pretend to be confused to deceive someone.

Origin Story

老张是一位经验丰富的律师，他代理过许多棘手的案件。有一天，一位客户找到他，希望他帮忙处理一起复杂的商业纠纷。客户滔滔不绝地讲述了事情的经过，其中充满了各种复杂的细节和矛盾之处。老张耐心地听着，时不时地提出一些问题，但他的问题总是似是而非，让人捉摸不透。客户越说越急，感觉老张根本没听进去，只是在敷衍他。其实，老张并不是真的没听，他是在认真地思考，试图从客户混乱的叙述中找到关键的信息。最后，老张终于理清了事情的脉络，他找到了客户叙述中的漏洞，并以此为突破口，找到了解决问题的方案。老张成功地为客户争取到了最大的利益，客户对老张的专业能力赞叹不已。

lǎo zhāng shì yī wèi jīng yàn fēngfù de lǜshī, tā dàilǐ guò xǔduō jí shǒu de ànjiàn. yǒu yī tiān, yī wèi kèhù zhǎodào tā, xīwàng tā bāngmáng chǔlǐ yī qǐ fùzá de shāngyè jiūfēn. kèhù tāotāobùjiě de jiǎngshù le shìqíng de jīngguò, qízhōng chōngmǎn le gè zhǒng fùzá de xìjié hé máodùn zhī chù. lǎo zhāng nàixīn de tīngzhe, shí bù shí de tíchū yīxiē wèntí, dàn tā de wèntí zǒng shì sì shì ěr fēi, ràng rén zhuōmō bù tòu. kèhù yuē shuō yuē jí, gǎnjué lǎo zhāng gēnběn méi tīng jìnqù, zhǐshì zài fūyǎn tā. qíshí, lǎo zhāng bìng bùshì zhēn de méi tīng, tā shì zài rènzhēn de sīkǎo, shìtú cóng kèhù hùnluàn de xùshù zhōng zhǎodào guānjiàn de xìnxī. zuìhòu, lǎo zhāng zhōngyú lǐqīng le shìqíng de màilùo, tā zhǎodào le kèhù xùshù zhōng de lòudòng, bìng yǐ cǐ wéi tūpò kǒu, zhǎodào le jiějué wèntí de fāng'àn. lǎo zhāng chénggōng de wèi kèhù zhēngqǔ dào le zuì dà de lìyì, kèhù duì lǎo zhāng de zhuānyè nénglì zàntàn bù yǐ.

Old Zhang was an experienced lawyer who had handled many challenging cases. One day, a client came to him, hoping he could help settle a complicated business dispute. The client recounted the events in great detail, filled with complex details and contradictions. Old Zhang listened patiently, occasionally asking questions, but his questions were often ambiguous and difficult to understand. The client became increasingly anxious, feeling that Old Zhang wasn't really listening, just putting him off. In fact, Old Zhang was listening attentively, trying to find key information from the client's confusing account. Finally, Old Zhang straightened out the whole picture, finding loopholes in the client's statement and using this as a breakthrough to find a solution. Old Zhang successfully secured the best outcome for the client, who was greatly impressed by his professionalism.

Usage

作谓语、宾语；指故意装糊涂蒙骗人。

zuò wèiyǔ, bǐnyǔ; zhǐ gùyì zhuāng hútu ménɡ piàn rén

As predicate, object; refers to deliberately pretending to be confused to deceive someone.

Examples

• 他打马虎眼，想蒙混过关。

  tā dǎ mǎ hu yǎn, xiǎng méng hùn guò guān

  He's beating around the bush, trying to get away with it.

• 别打马虎眼了，到底怎么回事？

  bié dǎ mǎ hu yǎn le, dào dǐ zěn me huí shì

  Don't beat around the bush, what's really going on?

Related Idioms

• 装聋作哑

• 闪烁其词

Opposite Idioms

• 坦诚相待

• 直言不讳