鱼目混珠
yú mù hùn zhū
to pass off the fake as genuine; to mix the worthless in with the fine
Character by character
鱼yú
fish
fish
目mù
eye
eye
混hùn
mix with
mix with
珠zhū
pearl
pearl
Example
有些商家把假货混在真货里卖，鱼目混珠，欺骗消费者。
Some sellers mix fakes in with the genuine goods, passing them off as real and cheating their customers.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Fish eyes look like pearls but are worthless. Used of goods, qualifications and candidates, often in warnings: 防止鱼目混珠, 鱼目混珠的现象. The subject is the cheat or the fake itself, not the victim.
Learn this in Lesson 186 · HSK 7–9: 从山寨到原创 (From knock-offs to originals)
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.
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