生吞活剝

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Chinese

to be born; to give birth; life
to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw
 
 to swallow; to take
to live; alive; living
to live; alive; living; work; workmanship
 
 peel; to skin
trad. (生吞活剝) 生 吞 活 剝
simp. (生吞活剥) 生 吞 活 剥

Etymology

From 《大唐新語》, edited by Liu Su in the early 9th century.

有棗強尉張懷慶，好偷名士文章…人謂之諺曰：「活剝王昌齡，生吞郭正一。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
有枣强尉张怀庆，好偷名士文章…人谓之谚曰：「活剥王昌龄，生吞郭正一。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: a. 820, Liu Su (劉肅), 《大唐新語》
Yǒu Zǎoqiáng wèi Zhāng Huáiqìng, hào tōu míngshì wénzhāng... Rén wèi zhī yàn yuē: “Huó bō Wáng Chānglíng, shēng tūn Guō Zhèngyī.”
There was an officer by the name Zhang Huaiqing in Zaoqiang, who was prone to plagiarizing famous authors... Referring to him, an idiom says "to flay Wang Changling alive and swallow Guo Zhengyi raw."

Pronunciation

Idiom

生吞活剝

  1. to skin and eat … alive
  2. (figuratively) to apply uncritically; to use without real understanding
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