📖 Meaning
To spread gossip and sow discord by carrying tales between people. It describes someone who stirs up conflict by relaying and distorting what others say behind their backs.
📜 Origin Story
From the Ming Dynasty novel 'Water Margin' (水浒传) by Shi Nai'an, Chapter 44. In the story, a character suspects that because she made new clothes and did not return home for two days, someone must have been spreading gossip and sowing suspicion behind her back. The phrase vividly depicts the act of stirring up trouble through idle talk by 'moving the mouth and manipulating the tongue.'
💡 Example Usage
她总喜欢搬口弄舌，挑拨邻里之间的关系。
She always likes to spread gossip and sow discord among the neighbors.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 搬口弄舌
- Pinyin: bān kǒu nòng shé
- Literal Translation: move, mouth, manipulate, tongue
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4