巧立名目

qiǎolìmíngmù
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to concoct fancy-sounding categories (to extract money etc.)
  2. 2 to invent pretexts; to fabricate excuses

Examples

Yǒuxiē gōngsī qiǎolìmíngmù, xiàng yuángōng luàn shōufèi.
Some companies dream up bogus categories to overcharge their employees.
Tā qiǎolìmíngmù bàoxiāo le jǐ qiān kuài qián.
He invented fake line items and claimed several thousand yuan in expenses.
Búyào qiǎolìmíngmù zēngjiā xuéshēng de fùdān.
Don't dream up new pretexts to pile more burdens on students.

Tips

history
From Zhao Lian's Qing-dynasty 《·狱中上百》: 以为巧立名目不容申辩 — an official complains of being framed with contrived charges. The idiom has been used since of any clever-but-dishonest labeling.
usage
Always pejorative — implies deceit behind the clever label. Most common contexts: illegal fees (收费), expense-account fraud, nominal charges on students, or bureaucratic pretexts to seize property.

Stroke Order

qiǎo
míng