班门弄斧

Bān mén nòng fǔ

to show off before an expert

Character by character

班Bān
Lu Ban’s

门mén
door

弄nòng
wield

斧fǔ
an axe

在各位专家面前谈这个问题，我是班门弄斧了。

To speak on this before you experts is to swing my axe at Lu Ban’s door.

Tone: neutral.

鲁班 was the master carpenter. Mostly used modestly of oneself.

Learn this in Lesson 211 · HSK 9+: 俗语、谚语与歇后语 (Sayings, proverbs and two-part riddles)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.