指鸡骂狗 zhǐ jī mà gǒu Pointing at the chicken and scolding the dog

Explanation

比喻表面上骂这个人,实际上是骂那个人。暗指、讽刺。

A metaphor used to describe the act of seemingly scolding one person while actually referring to another. An indirect reference or satire.

Origin Story

从前,村里有个老王,他家养了一只大公鸡,特别漂亮。有一天,老王发现邻居老李家的狗偷吃了他的鸡饲料。老王很生气,但他并没有直接去骂老李,而是指着自家漂亮的大公鸡,大声地骂起狗来:“你这条狗!偷吃东西,真不要脸!看我下次不打死你!”老李听到老王的骂声,虽然表面上是在骂狗,但他心里明白,老王是在指桑骂槐,骂的是他偷了鸡饲料。老李很尴尬,赶紧向老王赔礼道歉。从此以后,老李再也不敢偷老王的鸡饲料了。

cóngqián, cūnli yǒu ge lǎowáng, tā jiā yǎng le zhī dà gōngjī, tèbié piàoliang. yǒu yītiān, lǎowáng fāxiàn línjū lǎolǐ jiā de gǒu tōu chī le tā de jīsìliào. lǎowáng hěn shēngqì, dàn tā bìng méiyǒu zhíjiē qù mà lǎolǐ, érshì zhǐzhe zìjiā piàoliang de dà gōngjī, dàshēng de mà qǐ gǒu lái: “nǐ zhè tiáo gǒu! tōu chī dōngxī, zhēn bù yào liǎn! kàn wǒ xià cì bù dǎsǐ nǐ!” lǎolǐ tīngdào lǎowáng de màshēng, suīrán biǎomiànshàng shì zài mà gǒu, dàn tā xīnli míngbai, lǎowáng shì zài zhǐ sāng mà huái, mà de shì tā tōu le jīsìliào. lǎolǐ hěn gānggà, gǎnjǐn xiàng lǎowáng péilǐ dàoqiàn. cóngcǐ yǐhòu, lǎolǐ zài yě gǎn bù dǎo tōu lǎowáng de jīsìliào le.

Once upon a time, there was an old Wang in the village who raised a particularly beautiful rooster. One day, Old Wang discovered that Old Li's dog had stolen his chicken feed. Old Wang was very angry, but instead of directly scolding Old Li, he pointed at his own beautiful rooster and loudly scolded the dog: "You dog! Stealing food, you are so shameless! Wait until next time, I will kill you!" Old Li heard Old Wang's scolding, and although it seemed to be scolding the dog, he understood in his heart that Old Wang was indirectly scolding him for stealing the chicken feed. Old Li was very embarrassed and quickly apologized to Old Wang. From then on, Old Li dared not steal Old Wang's chicken feed anymore.

Usage

作谓语、宾语、状语;比喻暗中讽刺或批评别人

zuò wèiyǔ, bǐnyǔ, zhuàngyǔ; bǐyù ànzhōng fěngcì huò pīpíng biérén

Used as predicate, object, and adverbial; a metaphor for indirectly satirizing or criticizing others

Examples

  • 他表面上是在批评小王,其实是意有所指,在指鸡骂狗。

    tā biǎomiànshàng shì zài pīpíng xiǎowáng, qíshí shì yìyǒusuǒzhǐ, zài zhǐ jī mà gǒu

    He was ostensibly criticizing Xiaowang, but actually implied something else; it was a case of scolding the dog by pointing at the chicken.

  • 别指鸡骂狗了,直接说你想表达什么吧!

    bié zhǐ jī mà gǒu le, zhíjiē shuō nǐ xiǎng biǎodá shénme ba

    Stop scolding the dog while pointing at the chicken, just say what you want to express!