油头滑脑 yóu tóu huá nǎo oily and slick

Explanation

形容人轻浮狡猾，不老实。

Describes someone as superficial, cunning, and dishonest.

Origin Story

话说在江南水乡的一个小镇上，住着一位名叫阿福的年轻小伙子。阿福长得眉清目秀，但为人却油头滑脑，喜欢耍小聪明。他经常出入于当地富商的府邸，表面上与他们称兄道弟，背后却暗中打探他们的财物信息。一天，他得知富商王员外家中藏有一批珍贵的古董，便心生歹念。他精心打扮了一番，穿着华丽的衣衫，戴着昂贵的饰品，来到王员外家做客。他装出一副热情洋溢的样子，与王员外谈笑风生，还故意夸赞王员外的古董珍藏，借此套取古董的存放地点。王员外虽然对阿福的油头滑脑有所察觉，但碍于他的身份和表面上的热情，还是没有防备。阿福趁王员外不注意，偷偷潜入库房，盗走了部分古董。然而，阿福的诡计最终还是败露了。王员外发现古董失窃后，立即报官。官府在阿福的住处搜出了部分赃物，将他绳之以法。从此以后，阿福油头滑脑的行为受到了世人的谴责，再也没有人相信他了。

huà shuō zài jiāng nán shuǐ xiāng de yī ge xiǎo zhèn shang, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào ā fú de nián qīng xiǎo huǒzi. ā fú zhǎng de méi qīng mù xiù, dàn wéi rén què yóu tóu huá nǎo, xǐ huan shuǎ xiǎo cōngming. tā jīng cháng chū rù yú dāng dì fù shāng de fǔ dì, biǎo miàn shang yǔ tāmen chēng xiōng dào dì, bèi hòu què àn zhōng dǎ tàn tāmen de cái wù xìn xī. yī tiān, tā dé zhī fù shāng wáng yuán wài jiā zhōng cáng yǒu yī pī zhēn guì de gǔ dǒng, biàn xīn shēng dài niàn. tā jīng xīn dǎ bàn le yī fān, chuān zhe huá lì de yī shān, dài zhe áng guì de shì pǐn, lái dào wáng yuán wài jiā zuò kè. tā zhuāng chū yī fù rè qíng yáng yì de yàngzi, yǔ wáng yuán wài tán xiào fēng shēng, hái gù yì kuā zàn wáng yuán wài de gǔ dǒng zhēn cáng, jiè cǐ tào qǔ gǔ dǒng de cún fàng dì diǎn. wáng yuán wài suī rán duì ā fú de yóu tóu huá nǎo yǒu suǒ chá jué, dàn ài yú tā de shēn fèn hé biǎo miàn shang de rè qíng, hái shì méi yǒu fáng bèi. ā fú chèn wáng yuán wài bù zhù yì, tōu tōu qián rù kù fáng, dào zǒu le bù fèn gǔ dǒng. rán ér, ā fú de guǐ jì zuì zhōng hái shì bài lù le. wáng yuán wài fā xiàn gǔ dǒng shī qiē hòu, lì jí bào guān. guān fǔ zài ā fú de zhù chù sōu chū le bù fèn zāng wù, jiāng tā shéng zhī yǐ fǎ. cóng cǐ yǐ hòu, ā fú yóu tóu huá nǎo de xíng wéi shòu dào le shì rén de qiǎn zé, zài yě méi yǒu rén xiāngxìn tā le.

In a small town in the Jiangnan water town, there lived a young man named A Fu. A Fu was handsome but superficial and cunning, and loved to play with his small cleverness. He often went to the houses of rich merchants in the area, pretending to be their brother, but secretly explored information about their property. One day, he heard that the rich merchant Wang Yuanwai had hidden a collection of valuable antiques at home, so he planned something evil. He cleaned himself up, wore fine clothes and expensive jewelry, and visited Wang Yuanwai. He acted very enthusiastically and chatted with Wang Yuanwai. He deliberately praised Wang Yuanwai's antique collection in order to find out the location where the antiques were kept. Wang Yuanwai noticed that A Fu was superficial and cunning, but because of A Fu's status and his apparent warmth, he was not wary. A Fu snuck into the storeroom unnoticed and stole some antiques. But A Fu's deception was eventually uncovered. When Wang Yuanwai discovered the theft, he immediately alerted the authorities. The authorities found some stolen goods in A Fu's residence and brought him to justice. From that day on, A Fu's superficial and cunning behavior was condemned by the world, and no one believed him anymore.

Usage

用作谓语、宾语、定语；形容人轻浮狡猾。

yòng zuò wèiyǔ, bìnyǔ, dìngyǔ；xiāo róng rén qīng fú jiǎohuá

Used as predicate, object, and attributive; describes someone as superficial and cunning.

Examples

• 他油头滑脑的样子让人很不舒服。

  tā yóu tóu huá nǎo de yàngzi ràng rén hěn bù shūfu

  His oily and slick appearance makes people very uncomfortable.

• 那个油头滑脑的小伙子，骗走了老人的积蓄。

  nà ge yóu tóu huá nǎo de xiǎohuǒzi piàn zǒu le lǎorén de jīxù

  That oily young man swindled the old man's savings.

Related Idioms

• 油腔滑调

• 滑头

• 狡猾

Opposite Idioms

• 诚实

• 正直

• 坦率