童叟无欺
tóng sǒu wú qī
cheating neither young nor old; fair dealing with every customer
Character by character
童tóng
child
child
叟sǒu
old man
old man
无wú
no
no
欺qī
cheat
cheat
Example
这家小店几十年来明码标价,童叟无欺,街坊们都放心来买。
For decades this little shop has marked its prices clearly and cheated nobody, young or old, so the neighbours shop there with confidence.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
An old shop slogan, often paired as 货真价实,童叟无欺 on signs and in advertising. 叟 is a literary word for an old man: even the customers easiest to fool, children and the elderly, pay a fair price. Used of shops, traders and services, and sometimes ironically of a seller who does the opposite.
Learn this in Lesson 138 · HSK 7–9: 老字号 (The time-honoured brands)
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.
Open the lesson →