📖 Meaning
An idiom describing sycophantic flattery and fawning behavior toward those in power. It combines two images of obsequiousness—patting a horse's hindquarters and stroking someone's beard—to convey servile ingratiation.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase fuses two older allusions. '拍马' traces to the Yuan-dynasty custom among northerners of patting a horse's rump to praise its owner, which gradually degraded into empty flattery. '溜须' comes from the Song dynasty, when the official Ding Wei (丁谓) obsequiously stroked the beard of his superior Kou Zhun (寇准) at a banquet to curry favor. Writer Cao Ming (草明) used the combined form in her 1959 novel '乘风破浪' (Riding the Wind and Waves), noting that in the new society such flattery no longer worked. Modern authors use it to criticize toadies and yes-men.
💡 Example Usage
他在领导面前总爱拍马溜须，让同事们十分反感。
He's always flattering and fawning over the boss, which disgusts his coworkers.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 拍马溜须
- Pinyin: pāi mǎ liū xū
- Literal Translation: pat horse, stroke beard
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4