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以讹传讹

以訛傳訛
yǐ'échuán'é
idiom #56,023

Meanings

  1. 1 to spread an error further
  2. 2 to pass on falsehoods so they become entrenched
  3. 3 Chinese-whispers distortion of the truth

Examples

网上的消息常常以讹传讹,不能全信。
Wǎng shàng de xiāoxi chángcháng yǐ é chuán é, bù néng quán xìn.
Online news often spreads errors on top of errors — don't believe everything.
这个传说以讹传讹,早已失去原貌。
Zhège chuánshuō yǐ é chuán é, zǎo yǐ shīqù yuánmào.
This legend has been distorted through retelling and lost its original form.
我们要核实信息,避免以讹传讹。
Wǒmen yào héshí xìnxī, bìmiǎn yǐ é chuán é.
We must verify information to avoid spreading errors further.

Tips

history
From 俞琰's 《席上腐谈》 (Song dynasty): '世上相传女娲补天炼五色石于此,故名采石,以讹传讹' — the folk etymology for Caishi (Anhui) was originally a mistake, then propagated 以讹传讹.
grammar
Pinyin requires two apostrophes: yǐ'échuán'é, because both 讹 syllables start with a vowel after a preceding syllable.

Stroke Order

以 yǐ
讹 é
传 chuán