掛羊頭賣狗肉
简 挂羊头卖狗肉 · 繁 掛羊頭賣狗肉Meanings
- lit. to hang a sheep's head while selling dog meat (idiom)
- fig. to cheat
- dishonest advertising
- wicked deeds carried out under banner of virtue
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Mandarin tones
4–2–2–4–3–4 · gua4 yang2 tou2 mai4 gou3 rou4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
掛羊頭賣狗肉 · find source passages ↗ · 挂羊头卖狗肉 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gwaa3 joeng4 tau4 maai6 gau2 juk6
Cantonese word readings for 掛羊頭賣狗肉. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (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
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack