众口铄金
zhòng kǒu shuò jīn
many voices can melt metal: what everyone says can bury the truth or ruin a person
Character by character
众zhòng
many
many
口kǒu
mouths
mouths
铄shuò
melt
melt
金jīn
metal
metal
Example
众口铄金，那位老师明明是被冤枉的，可传言太多，她最后还是辞职了。
Many mouths melt metal: the teacher had plainly been wronged, but the gossip was so widespread that in the end she resigned.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
From 《国语·周语下》: 众心成城，众口铄金, where it is simply about the power of the many. 铄 shuò means to melt. Today it usually warns how gossip and online pile-ons can crush an innocent person; the 《史记》 adds 积毁销骨, “slander heaped up dissolves bone”.
Learn this in Lesson 192 · HSK 7–9: 热搜与情况通报 (Trending topics and official statements)
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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