📖 Meaning
Literally 'worse than dung and dirt.' It describes something utterly worthless, holding even less value than refuse and soil. The idiom is used to express extreme contempt for people or things deemed completely valueless.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Ming Dynasty work 'Xingshi Hengyan' (Stories to Awaken the World) by Feng Menglong, a renowned vernacular short story writer. In Chapter 27, the narrative criticizes cruel stepmothers who mistreat their stepchildren from a previous marriage, tormenting them so harshly that their treatment is deemed 'worse than dung and dirt.' The phrase reflects the moral outrage of the era toward familial cruelty and the low status afforded to such abused children.
💡 Example Usage
他把祖传的字画当粪土不如，随手扔进了垃圾堆。
He treated the family heirloom calligraphy and paintings as utterly worthless, casually tossing them into the garbage pile.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 粪土不如
- Pinyin: fèn tú bù rú
- Literal Translation: dung, earth, not, like
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4