📖 Meaning
To flaunt one's seniority or advanced age to assert superiority over others. It describes someone who uses their age and experience as leverage to boast, lecture, or act condescendingly. The idiom conveys disapproval of this behavior as arrogant and tiresome.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in Cao Yu's 1940 play 'Beijing Man' (《北京人》), Act One. In the scene, a character encounters older colleagues who throw their weight around based on seniority, and has no choice but to play along with flattering agreement. The phrase captures a common social phenomenon in traditional Chinese culture, where age and rank were deeply respected, sometimes to the point of abuse. Though the expression gained literary recognition through Cao Yu, the underlying concept predates the play.
💡 Example Usage
他总爱在年轻人面前以老卖老，实在让人受不了。
He always likes to flaunt his seniority in front of young people, which is really unbearable.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 以老卖老
- Pinyin: yǐ lǎo mài lǎo
- Literal Translation: rely on, old, sell, old
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4