📖 Meaning
This idiom describes someone who acts shamelessly and uses their power or position to oppress and intimidate others. It conveys both unruly, unreasonable behavior and the abuse of authority to bully people into submission. The phrase is typically used to criticize such domineering conduct.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the novel 'Spring Tide Urgent' (春潮急) by the modern Chinese writer Ke Fei (克非). In a vivid scene, a character known as Li Huzi (李胡子, Li the Bearded) resolves to act shamelessly and throw his weight around, snatching the worn leather cap from his head and slamming it hard onto a square table while shouting at another character, Meng Er Huzi (孟二胡子), to get out. The dramatic depiction captures the essence of someone resorting to bullying and intimidation when reason fails them. The phrase has since become a descriptive term for such oppressive, unreasonable behavior in Chinese.
💡 Example Usage
那恶霸在集市上放泼撒豪，吓得百姓不敢吭声。
That local tyrant acted shamelessly and domineeringly in the marketplace, frightening the common people into silence.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 放泼撒豪
- Pinyin: fàng pō sā háo
- Literal Translation: release, brazen, throw about, domineering
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4