📖 Meaning
To make a fool of oneself before an expert or a knowledgeable audience. It conveys humility or self-deprecation, acknowledging that one's limited skill or knowledge may seem laughable to those who truly understand the subject.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from Zhuangzi (《庄子·秋水》), where the River God, having swelled with pride after the autumn flood, ventures to the North Sea for the first time. There he meets Ruo (若), the spirit of the sea, whose vastness makes the river feel utterly insignificant. Ruo remarks that one cannot discuss the ocean with a well frog, and the idiom emerged from this theme of the ignorant presuming to instruct the knowledgeable.
💡 Example Usage
在各位专家面前班门弄斧，实在是贻笑大方。
Showing off my meager skills in front of all these experts is truly making a fool of myself.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贻笑大方
- Pinyin: yí xiào dà fāng
- Literal Translation: leave, laugh, great, expert
- Category: Knowledge
- Characters: 4