📖 Meaning
To embellish or exaggerate a story by adding fabricated details that were not in the original account. It describes the act of sensationalizing news or gossip to make it more dramatic or interesting, often distorting the truth in the process.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from the novel 《春潮急》 by the modern author 克非 (Ke Fei), a work set in the context of rural land reform in early socialist China. In the cited passage, the author describes a type of person who, while not necessarily malicious, loves to pry into others' secrets and then relays them with added embellishments, eagerly broadcasting the distorted version. The imagery of adding oil and vinegar to a dish serves as a metaphor for seasoning a plain story with extra spicy or flavorful, but false, details.
💡 Example Usage
他讲起这件事来总是喜欢加油添醋，搞得大家都不太相信他了。
He always likes to embellish the story with fabricated details when he talks about it, so much so that people no longer really believe him.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 加油添醋
- Pinyin: jiā yóu tiān cù
- Literal Translation: add oil, add vinegar
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4