📖 Meaning
Like rats stealing small amounts and dogs sneaking off with scraps. It refers to petty theft or minor pilfering. The idiom is used to describe petty thieves or insignificant scoundrels who are not worth worrying about.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Records of the Grand Historian' (《史记》) by Sima Qian of the Han dynasty, in the biography of Liu Jing and Shusun Tong. When Emperor Gaozu of Han was troubled by banditry, an advisor dismissed the rebels as mere 'rat-stealing and dog-pilfering' rabble, hardly worth mentioning between one's teeth. The expression thus came to denote petty criminals of no real consequence. It appears in classical literature including 'Water Margin' (《水浒传》) by Shi Nai'an.
💡 Example Usage
鼠窃狗偷之徒，何足挂齿。
Petty thieves like these are hardly worth mentioning.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鼠窃狗偷
- Pinyin: shǔ qiè gǒu tōu
- Literal Translation: rat, steal, dog, pilfer
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4