张冠李戴

張冠李戴

zhāngguānlǐdài

idiom

Meanings

1 to put Zhang's hat on Li's head
2 to attribute something to the wrong person
3 to mix up or confuse one thing with another

Characters

to wear (on head)

Examples

你把两位作家的作品张冠李戴了。

Nǐ bǎ liǎng wèi zuòjiā de zuòpǐn zhāngguānlǐdài le.

You've mixed up the two authors' works and attributed them to the wrong people.

这段话是鲁迅说的，你却张冠李戴，说成是胡适的。

Zhè duàn huà shì Lǔ Xùn shuō de, nǐ què zhāngguānlǐdài, shuō chéng shì Hú Shì de.

This quote is Lu Xun's, but you've misattributed it to Hu Shi.

引用名言时要小心核对，免得张冠李戴。

Yǐnyòng míngyán shí yào xiǎoxīn héduì, miǎnde zhāngguānlǐdài.

Be careful to verify quotations to avoid attributing them to the wrong person.

Tips

history

Recorded in Ming scholar Tian Yiheng's 《留青日札》, citing a folk saying: 'Zhang's hat ends up on Li's head.' Zhang and Li are the two most common Chinese surnames — equivalent to swapping 'Smith's hat' for 'Jones's' in English.

usage

Classic for misattribution: quotes, authorship, credit for ideas, faces to names. Milder than 颠倒黑白 (invert black and white), which implies deliberate distortion.

Stroke Order

张 zhāng

冠 guān

李 lǐ

戴 dài