treo đầu dê bán thịt chó

Vietnamese

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 掛羊頭賣狗肉／挂羊头卖狗肉 (quải dương đầu mại cẩu nhục).

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˨˩ ze˧˧ ʔɓaːn˧˦ tʰit̚˧˨ʔ t͡ɕɔ˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʈɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˦˩ jej˧˧ ʔɓaːŋ˦˧˥ tʰit̚˨˩ʔ t͡ɕɔ˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʈɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˨˩ jej˧˧ ʔɓaːŋ˦˥ tʰɨt̚˨˩˨ cɔ˦˥]

Verb

treo đầu dê bán thịt chó

1. (literal) to put up goat heads, but actually be selling dog meat
2. (figurative, advertising) to practice blatantly false advertising, to pull off a bait and switch