lit. to point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree; fig. to scold sb indirectly; to make oblique accusations (idiom)
trad. 指桑罵槐
Also written 指桑罵槐【zhǐ sāng mà huái】
Characters in this word
4指
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
finger, to point at or to, to indicate or refer to, to depend on, to count on, (of hair) to stand on end
- Pinyin
- zhǐ
- Strokes
- 9
- Frequency
- 1173 of 2500
桑
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
surname Sang
- Pinyin
- Sāng
- Strokes
- 10
- Frequency
- 8967 of 2500
骂
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
to scold, to abuse, to curse, CL:通[tong4],頓|顿[dun4]
- Pinyin
- mà
- Traditional
- 罵
- Strokes
- 9
- Frequency
- 2968 of 2500
槐
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica), Japanese pagoda tree
- Pinyin
- huái
- Strokes
- 13