望文生义 interpret literally
Explanation
指不顾上下文，只根据字面的意思去理解词语或句子，从而造成误解。
Refers to misunderstanding a word or sentence based on its literal meaning without considering the context, thus leading to misinterpretations.
Origin Story
话说唐朝有个秀才，名叫张三，平时喜欢读书，但常常望文生义。一日，他读到“虎头蛇尾”一词，便联想到了一个故事：从前有只老虎，它生了一条蛇当尾巴，那老虎整天摇头晃脑的，走起路来也十分费力，直到最后累死了。张三把这个故事讲给朋友听，朋友们都哈哈大笑。张三这才明白自己望文生义了。从此，张三更加认真地读书，不再望文生义了。
It is said that during the Tang Dynasty, there was a scholar named Zhang San who loved reading but often misinterpreted words literally. One day, he read the term "tiger head, snake tail", which brought to mind a story: Once upon a time, there was a tiger that had a snake for a tail. The tiger spent its days shaking its head and its walk was extremely difficult until it finally died from exhaustion. Zhang San shared this story with his friends who all burst into laughter. Only then did Zhang San realize that he had misinterpreted the meaning of the phrase. From that day forward, Zhang San read much more carefully and never misinterpreted phrases or terms literally again.
Usage
用于批评只从字面理解意思而忽视实际含义的做法。
Used to criticize the practice of understanding only the literal meaning while ignoring the actual meaning.
Examples
-
他望文生义，闹了个大笑话。
ta wang wenshengyi, nao le ge da xiaohua.
He made a big fool of himself by misinterpreting the text.
-
不要望文生义，要理解文章的真正含义。
buya wang wenshengyi, yao lijie wenzhang de zhenzheng hany.
Don't take the text literally; understand the true meaning of the text.