吹牛(chuīniú) Brag and Boast

吹牛(chuīniú) Brag and Boast
Aug 28, 2009 03:46
LOVESMILE Points: Join Date: Aug 25, 2009 Status: offline	Origin and meaning It is said that the phrase 吹牛(chuīniú) comes from the butcher shop. In some places, when the butcher butchers pigs and sheep, he will cut a small slit on the pigs' or sheep's leg near the hoof and inflate them by blowing through the slit until the whole body expands after the blood has been completely drained, thus making the skin very easy to peel. This is called inflating pigs or sheep. If this is done to a cow, it would be called 吹牛(chuīniú), which literally means to inflate a cow. However, because a cow has such a huge body, it is very difficult for ordinary people to inflate it by themselves. Thus, anyone who claims that he can inflate a cow is completely bragging or boasting. 吹(chuī) in the phrase 吹牛(chuīniú) means to blow and 牛(niú) means cow, but 吹牛(chuīniú) is widely used to describe people who are bragging and boasting. Usage of the phrase Examples: 别听他的，他很爱吹牛！ Bié tīng tā de, tā hěn ài chuīniú! Don't believe him, he loves to brag. 他是个吹牛的能手，每天都说一些让人无法相信的事！ Tā shì gè chuīniú de néngshǒu, měitiān dōu shuō yīxiē ràng rén wúfǎ xiānɡxìn de shì! He is good at bragging and often says some very unbelievable things.

Aug 28, 2009 03:46

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Origin and meaning
It is said that the phrase 吹牛(chuīniú) comes from the butcher shop. In some places, when the butcher butchers pigs and sheep, he will cut a small slit on the pigs' or sheep's leg near the hoof and inflate them by blowing through the slit until the whole body expands after the blood has been completely drained, thus making the skin very easy to peel. This is called inflating pigs or sheep. If this is done to a cow, it would be called 吹牛(chuīniú), which literally means to inflate a cow. However, because a cow has such a huge body, it is very difficult for ordinary people to inflate it by themselves. Thus, anyone who claims that he can inflate a cow is completely bragging or boasting. 吹(chuī) in the phrase 吹牛(chuīniú) means to blow and 牛(niú) means cow, but 吹牛(chuīniú) is widely used to describe people who are bragging and boasting.

Usage of the phrase
Examples:
别听他的，他很爱吹牛！
Bié tīng tā de, tā hěn ài chuīniú!
Don't believe him, he loves to brag.
他是个吹牛的能手，每天都说一些让人无法相信的事！
Tā shì gè chuīniú de néngshǒu, měitiān dōu shuō yīxiē ràng rén wúfǎ xiānɡxìn de shì!
He is good at bragging and often says some very unbelievable things.

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