胡搅蛮缠 hú jiǎo mán chán to make a fuss; to be unreasonable and intractable

Explanation

蛮横不讲理，纠缠不清。

Unreasonable, stubborn, and entangled.

Origin Story

话说在古代有一个小村庄，村里住着一位老秀才，他学富五车，但脾气古怪。一天，一位年轻的农夫来向他请教耕种之事。老秀才本想耐心指导，却发现农夫问的问题很基础，甚至有些重复。他开始不耐烦起来，认为农夫愚笨，浪费他的时间。于是，老秀才不再认真解释，而是用一些含糊不清的词语来搪塞农夫。农夫越听越糊涂，继续追问，老秀才却越发不耐烦，开始胡搅蛮缠，与农夫争论起来。他搬出各种典故，故意用难懂的语言来刁难农夫，农夫根本无法理解。争论持续了很久，最后老秀才气呼呼地把农夫赶走了，农夫带着满腹疑问离开了老秀才的家，心里充满了无奈与不解。

huà shuō zài gǔdài yǒu yīgè xiǎo cūn zhuāng, cūn lǐ zhù zhe yī wèi lǎo xiù cái, tā xuéfù wū chē, dàn pí qì gǔ guài. yī tiān, yī wèi nián qīng de nóng fū lái xiàng tā qǐng jiào gēng zhòng zhī shì. lǎo xiù cái běn xiǎng nàixīn zhǐ dǎo, què fāxiàn nóng fū wèn de wèntí hěn jī chǔ, shèn zhì yǒuxiē chóngfù. tā kāishǐ bù nàifán qǐ lái, rènwéi nóng fū yúbèn, làngfèi tā de shíjiān. yúshì, lǎo xiù cái bù zài rèn zhēn jiěshì, ér shì yòng yīxiē hán hu mí bù qīng de cí yǔ lái tángsài nóng fū. nóng fū yuè tīng yuè hútu, jìxù zhuī wèn, lǎo xiù cái què yuèfā bù nàifán, kāishǐ hú jiǎo mán chán, yǔ nóng fū zhēnglùn qǐ lái. tā bān chū gè zhǒng diǎn gù, gùyì yòng nándǒng de yǔyán lái diaonán nóng fū, nóng fū gēnběn wúfǎ lǐjiě. zhēnglùn chíxù le hěn jiǔ, zuìhòu lǎo xiù cái qì hū hū de bǎ nóng fū gǎn zǒu le, nóng fū dài zhe mǎnfù yí wèn líkāi le lǎo xiù cái de jiā, xīn lǐ chōngmǎn le wú nài yǔ bù jiě.

Once upon a time, in an ancient village, there lived an old scholar who was very knowledgeable but had a peculiar temperament. One day, a young farmer came to ask him about farming. The scholar wanted to patiently guide him, but found that the farmer's questions were very basic and even repetitive. He became impatient, thinking that the farmer was stupid and wasting his time. So, the scholar stopped explaining properly and used vague words to put off the farmer. The farmer became more and more confused and continued to ask, but the scholar became even more impatient and started to argue with the farmer. He used various allusions and deliberately used difficult words to make things difficult for the farmer, and the farmer could not understand at all. The argument lasted a long time, and finally, the scholar angrily sent the farmer away. The farmer left with many questions and confusion.

Usage

形容不讲道理，纠缠不清。

míng xíng bù jiǎng dàolǐ, jiūchán bù qīng

To describe someone who is unreasonable and persistently entangled.

Examples

• 他总是胡搅蛮缠，让人非常头疼。

  tā zǒng shì hú jiǎo mán chán, ràng rén fēicháng tóuténg

  He always makes a fuss and is very annoying.

• 别跟他胡搅蛮缠了，他根本听不进去。

  bié gēn tā hú jiǎo mán chán le, tā gēnběn tīng bù jìn qù

  Don't argue with him; he won't listen anyway.

Related Idioms

• 蛮横无理

• 强词夺理

Opposite Idioms

• 有理有据

• 讲道理