生拉活扯 shēng lā huó chě far-fetched

Explanation

比喻牵强附会，把不相干的事情硬凑在一起。

To describe something that is forced and far-fetched, connecting unrelated things.

Origin Story

话说在一个小山村里，住着一位名叫阿强的木匠。他技艺精湛，远近闻名。一天，村长找到阿强，要他帮忙修理村里古老的庙宇。庙宇年久失修，多处破损，阿强仔细检查后，发现庙宇的损坏并非简单的木材腐朽，而是地基出现了问题。他建议村长重修地基，稳固庙宇，否则修缮也只是治标不治本。可村长却坚持认为只需要修补损坏的木料就可以了，还生拉活扯地从古籍里找来一些不相干的记载，试图证明自己的想法是正确的。阿强无奈，只好按照村长的意思，修补了损坏的木料。但没过多久，庙宇再次倒塌，村长这才明白，阿强之前的建议才是正确的。

huà shuō zài yīgè xiǎo shān cūn lǐ, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào ā qiáng de mù jiàng. tā jìyì jīngzhàn, yuǎn jìn wénmíng. yī tiān, cūn zhǎng zhǎo dào ā qiáng, yào tā bāngmáng xiūlǐ cūn lǐ gǔlǎo de miàoyǔ. miàoyǔ nián jiǔ shū xiū, duō chù pò sǔn, ā qiáng zǐxì jiǎnchá hòu, fāxiàn miàoyǔ de sǔnhuài bìngfēi jiǎndān de mùcái fǔxiǔ, érshì dì jī chūxiàn le wèntí. tā jiànyì cūn zhǎng chóngxiū dì jī, wěngù miàoyǔ, fǒuzé xiūshàn yě zhǐshì zhì biāo bù zhì běn. kě cūn zhǎng què jiānchí rènwéi zhǐ xūyào xiūbǔ sǔnhuài de mùliào jiù kěyǐ le, hái shēng lā huó chě de cóng gǔ jí lǐ zhǎo lái yīxiē bù xiānggān de jìzǎi, shìtú zhèngmíng zìjǐ de xiǎngfǎ shì zhèngquè de. ā qiáng wú nài, zhǐ hǎo àn zhào cūn zhǎng de yìsi, xiūbǔ le sǔnhuài de mùliào. dàn méi guò duō jiǔ, miàoyǔ zàicì dǎotā, cūn zhǎng zhè cái míngbái, ā qiáng zhīqián de jiànyì cái shì zhèngquè de.

Once upon a time, in a small village, lived a skilled carpenter named Ah Qiang. One day, the village head asked him to repair the village's ancient temple. After careful inspection, Ah Qiang found that the temple's damage was not simply due to rotting wood but also a problem with its foundation. He suggested that the village head rebuild the foundation, but the head insisted that only the damaged wood needed repairing, even citing irrelevant passages from ancient texts to support his point. Despite Ah Qiang's warnings, the village head persisted. The result was that the temple soon collapsed again.

Usage

用作谓语、宾语、定语；指牵强附会。

yòng zuò wèiyǔ, bǐnyǔ, dìngyǔ; zhǐ qiānqiáng fùhuì.

Used as predicate, object, and attributive; refers to something far-fetched and unreasonable.

Examples

• 他生拉活扯地把两个不相干的事联系在一起。

  tā shēng lā huó chě de bǎ liǎng gè bù xiānggān de shì liánxì zài yīqǐ.

  He forcibly linked two unrelated things together.

• 他生拉活扯地解释了一番，仍然让人无法理解。

  tā shēng lā huó chě de jiěshì le yīfān, réngrán ràng rén wúfǎ lǐjiě

  He explained it in a far-fetched way, which was still incomprehensible to people.

Related Idioms

• 牵强附会

• 生拉硬拽

Opposite Idioms

• 合情合理

• 天衣无缝