掛羊頭賣狗肉

See also: 挂羊头卖狗肉

Chinese

		to hang; to put up; to suspend	goat's head	sell	dog meat
trad. (掛羊頭賣狗肉)		掛	羊頭	賣	狗肉
simp. (挂羊头卖狗肉)		挂	羊头	卖	狗肉
Literally: “to sell dog meat while hanging a goat's head outside the shop as an advertisement”.

Etymology

Appeared in some Song dynasty books like 五燈會元 and 續傳燈錄, originally as 懸羊頭賣狗肉／悬羊头卖狗肉 (xuán yángtóu mài gǒuròu), for example:

二十年來坐曲彔床，懸羊頭賣狗肉，知它有甚憑據。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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二十年来坐曲彔床，悬羊头卖狗肉，知它有甚凭据。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 釋惟白 (Song dynasty), 續傳燈錄·第31卷

Èrshí nián lái zuò qūlù chuáng, xuán yángtóu mài gǒuròu, zhī tā yǒu shèn píng jù. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Which in turn was a variant of 懸牛首賣馬肉／悬牛首卖马肉 in Yanzi chunqiu:

君使服之於內，而禁之於外，猶懸牛首於門，而賣馬肉於內也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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君使服之于内，而禁之于外，犹悬牛首于门，而卖马肉于内也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Annals of Master Yan, c. 3^rd century BCE

Jūn shǐ fú zhī yú nèi, ér jìn zhī yú wài, yóu xuán niú shǒu yú mén, ér mài mǎròu yú nèi yě. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guà yángtóu mài gǒuròu

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄚˋ ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄞˋ ㄍㄡˇ ㄖㄡˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwaa³ joeng⁴ tau⁴ maai⁶ gau² juk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guà yángtóu mài gǒuròu
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄚˋ ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄇㄞˋ ㄍㄡˇ ㄖㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guà yángtóu mài gǒuròu
    • Wade–Giles: kua⁴ yang²-tʻou² mai⁴ kou³-jou⁴
    • Yale: gwà yáng-tóu mài gǒu-ròu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guah yangtour may goourow
    • Palladius: гуа янтоу май гоужоу (gua jantou maj goužou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ä⁵¹ jɑŋ³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ maɪ̯⁵¹ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐoʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwaa³ joeng⁴ tau⁴ maai⁶ gau² juk⁶
    • Yale: gwa yèuhng tàuh maaih gáu yuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwaa³ joeng⁴ tau⁴ maai⁶ gau² juk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gua³ yêng⁴ teo⁴ mai⁶ geo² yug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷaː³³ jœːŋ²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ maːi̯²² kɐu̯³⁵ jʊk̚²/

Idiom

掛羊頭賣狗肉

1. (figurative) to cry wine and sell vinegar; to do a bait and switch; to use a good cause as a cover for doing something bad

Synonyms

• 羊頭狗肉／羊头狗肉 (yángtóugǒuròu)
• 懸羊頭賣狗肉／悬羊头卖狗肉 (xuán yángtóu mài gǒuròu)
• 掛羊頭煮狗肉／挂羊头煮狗肉

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: treo đầu dê bán thịt chó (calque)
• → Japanese: 羊頭を掲げて狗肉を売る (calque)