📖 Meaning
Literally 'to open the eyes wide and bare the eyeballs,' this idiom describes someone who stares intently while telling outright lies or nonsense. It conveys brazen dishonesty—speaking falsehoods without shame, often with a defiant or aggressive look meant to mask the untruth.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Qing dynasty novel 'Xingshi Yinyuan Zhuan' (醒世姻缘传, 'The Story of a Marriage to Awaken the World') by the author known as Xi Zhousheng, appearing in Chapter 8. In the original scene, it is used to criticize people chattering baseless nonsense to Chao Da-ge. The phrase vividly captures the image of someone glaring with wide-open eyes while speaking untruths, exposing their shameless insistence on falsehoods.
💡 Example Usage
事情明明不是这样，他却张眼露睛地硬说没错。
Things were clearly not so, yet he glared with wide eyes and stubbornly insisted he had done nothing wrong.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 张眼露睛
- Pinyin: zhāng yǎn lù jīng
- Literal Translation: open eyes, expose eyeballs
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4