📖 Meaning
To give others a pretext or handle for criticism; to leave oneself open to gossip and reproach. It describes behaving in a way that invites others to speak ill of you or to justify their accusations against you.
📜 Origin Story
There is no single authoritative literary source for this idiom. Its core component 口实 appears in classical Chinese, where it literally meant something for the mouth and by extension something to talk about, recurring in texts such as the Shangshu (Book of Documents) and Zuozhuan. The four-character form 授人口实 is a later consolidation used in vernacular and near-vernacular writing to describe handing others grounds for criticism. It has been used for centuries in Chinese historiography to fault public figures whose conduct created grounds for attack. Today it is common in both written and spoken Chinese.
💡 Example Usage
此事若不及时澄清，恐怕授人口实。
If this matter is not promptly clarified, it may give others grounds for gossip.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 授人口实
- Pinyin: shòu rén kǒu shí
- Literal Translation: give, other people, mouth, reality
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4