指鹿为马
zhǐ lù wéi mǎ
to call black white on purpose
Character by character
指zhǐ
point at
point at
鹿lù
a deer
a deer
为wéi
call it
call it
马mǎ
a horse
a horse
Example
明明是他错了，他却指鹿为马，说是别人的问题。
He was plainly in the wrong, yet he called black white and blamed someone else.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
The Qin minister 赵高 presented a deer as a horse to see which courtiers would dare contradict him.
Learn this in Lesson 76 · HSK 6–7: 秦始皇与大一统 (The First Emperor)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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