📖 Meaning
Bullying or taking advantage of someone to an intolerable degree. It describes behavior that pushes aggression or deception so far beyond acceptable limits that it becomes unforgivable. Often used to express indignation at someone who has gone too far in mistreating others.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty play '楚昭公' (King Zhao of Chu) by the dramatist 郑廷玉 (Zheng Tingyu). In the fourth act, the ruler appoints someone to a high alliance office and bestows a precious sword upon him; at the banquet the person lifts a heavy bronze tripod, a display of arrogance seen as bullying others beyond endurance. The line '筵前举鼎，欺人太甚' captures this moment of excessive aggression. Over time the expression became a common rebuke for anyone who deceives or oppresses others to an unacceptable degree.
💡 Example Usage
他一再逼迫我们让步，简直是欺人太甚。
He kept forcing us to make concessions — that's just taking things too far.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 欺人太甚
- Pinyin: qī rén tài shèn
- Literal Translation: deceive, people, too, extreme
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4