The pot calling the kettle black - 乌鸦笑猪黑?

[Demonic_Duck]

I was wondering if 乌鸦笑猪黑 is the best translation of "the pot calling the kettle black". Jukuu gave me a number of options, most of which didn't really capture the idiomatic feel of the English, along with 锅笑壶黑 and 乌鸦笑猪黑. Upon googling them, the first option came up with results teaching the English phrase (as such, I assume it's just a literal translation and doesn't capture the idiomatic meaning well), whereas the second came up with results explaining the story in Chinese (e.g. http://baby.mxabc.com/gushi/200612/5387.shtml). I then promptly used the phrase in my weixin conversation and it seemed like I was understood.

 

So my questions are:

1) Is this the best/most common phrase to use to illustrate an example of hypocrisy?

2) Is this phrase universally/near-universally understood by your average 老百姓?

3) Does the phrase only imply that the accuser is just as bad as the accused, or that they are even worse?

4) Does anyone know any other good phrases that can be used to talk about hypocrisy (e.g. are there good equivalents for "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones", "practice what you preach" or "to say one thing and do another")?

[skylee]

Consider 五十步笑百步。

[chinchillus]

As skylee says, 五十步笑百步 is better. It literally means a deserter who runs away 50 steps laughs at another who runs away 100 steps.

[Kenny同志]

In my dialect we have an idiom that goes 螺螄笑蚌殼。

[Kobo-Daishi]

@Kenny What's your dialect?

 

Kobo.

[Kenny同志]

Kobo，my dialect is 澧縣話.

 

By the way, we have another idiom that goes 大哥不笑二哥，螺螄不笑蚌殼.

[Kenny同志]

So my questions are:

1) Is this the best/most common phrase to use to illustrate an example of hypocrisy?

No, I am afraid not. This is the first time I've seen this phrase so it's probably not very common in standard Mandarin.

 

2) Is this phrase universally/near-universally understood by your average 老百姓?

It is probably not. Anyway, I for one had no idea what it meant until I googled it.

 

3) Does the phrase only imply that the accuser is just as bad as the accused, or that they are even worse?

 

I have no idea about this.

 

4) Does anyone know any other good phrases that can be used to talk about hypocrisy (e.g. are there good equivalents for "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones", "practice what you preach" or "to say one thing and do another")?

 

I can't think of a corresponding Chinese proverb for the first English expression but I think you can consider 自身不硬，勿責人短 as a possible translation for it.

 

"Practice what you preach" in certain contexts can be translated as "正人先正己" , a phrase which is well-established but is less widely applicable as the English phrase.

 

The equivalent of the third English expression is 說一套做一套. (PS: 言行不一 means the same thing but it carries a more formal tone.)

[skylee]

自身不硬，無責人短

Seriously? This sounds so indecent, no?

[Kenny同志]

http://www.zdic.net/z/1f/js/786C.htm

 

Look at 硬 in the last sense.

 

是妳想歪了。呵呵。

[Kenny同志]

For "practice what you preach", you can also consider 別說一套做一套 or 做人要言行如一(though in writing I'd prefer 大丈夫言行如一).

 

PS: I must point out that the above three Chinese expressions are not idioms or proverbs.

[Demonic_Duck]

What I've learnt so far from this thread:

 

The pot calls the kettle black - 五十步笑百步、螺蛳笑蚌壳 (I guess if the latter is more dialectical, the first is more widely used/understood?)

People who live in glass houses - 自身不硬，勿责人短 (yeah, Skylee's right, it does sound dirty, at least if you translate literally to English... ehehe...)

Practice what you preach - 正人先正己 (I guess this is also a bit like "let he who is without sin cast the first stone"?)

To say one thing and do another - 说一套，做一套 (actually I knew there was an expression something like this as I remembered an old co-worker mentioning it, but I'd forgotten exactly what it was)

 

And... 想歪 - to think in a perverse way.

 

I'd say this thread has been very fruitful so far. Thanks guys!

 

Edit: add Kenny's comments above to this. Very fruitful indeed. Although what does 大丈夫 signify in the last one? Big husband? O_o

[skylee]

Do not forget to use online dictionaries. Paste 大丈夫 on mdbg to check what it means.

[歐博思]

I recall seeing something like "不要说二反二“ don't say one thing and do another.

[skylee]

I recall seeing something like "不要说二反二“ don't say one thing and do another.

 

 

It should be 出爾反爾, not 說二反二.