附庸风雅 affecting elegance
Explanation
指缺乏文化修养的人为了装点门面而做一些与文化有关的事，以显示自己有文化修养。
Refers to someone lacking cultural accomplishment who engages in cultural activities to give the appearance of being cultured.
Origin Story
老钱是个暴发户，一夜暴富后，他开始热衷于收藏字画，参加各种艺术展览，并邀请一些所谓的“文化名流”到家里做客，他希望通过这些举动来提升自己的社会地位和形象。然而，他对于艺术的理解仅仅停留在表面，不懂得欣赏真正的艺术价值，只是为了附庸风雅，以显示自己的富有和品位。一次，他请来一位著名的画家给他作画，画家画了一幅水墨山水，老钱却指着画上的几只鸟说：“这画儿可真不错，你看这鸟画得多逼真！”画家尴尬地笑了笑，老钱却自鸣得意，浑然不觉自己闹了个笑话。
Old Money was a nouveau riche. After becoming suddenly wealthy, he became passionate about collecting calligraphy and paintings, attending various art exhibitions, and inviting so-called "cultural celebrities" to his home as guests. He hoped to improve his social status and image through these actions. However, his understanding of art was superficial. He didn't understand how to appreciate true artistic value; he did this merely to appear cultured and show off his wealth and taste. Once, he invited a famous painter to paint for him. The painter painted an ink-wash landscape, but Old Money pointed at some birds in the painting and said, “This painting is really good! Look how realistic the birds are!” The painter smiled awkwardly, but Old Money was smug, completely unaware that he had made a fool of himself.
Usage
常用来形容那些缺乏文化修养，却为了显示自己有文化而刻意模仿和学习的行为。
Often used to describe those who lack cultural accomplishment but deliberately imitate and learn to show that they are cultured.
Examples
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他虽然不懂艺术，却附庸风雅地收集了许多古董。
tā suīrán bù dǒng yìshù, què fù yōng fēng yǎ de shōují le xǔduō gǔdǒng.
Although he doesn't understand art, he collects many antiques to appear cultured.
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一些暴发户为了附庸风雅，常常做一些不伦不类的事情。
yīxiē bàofā hù wèile fù yōng fēng yǎ, chángcháng zuò yīxiē bù lún bù lèi de shìqíng。
Some nouveaux riches often do incongruous things in order to appear cultured (to give themselves the appearance of education).