掇臀捧屁

duōtúnpěngpì

idiom

Meanings

1 to suck up shamelessly
2 to engage in crude flattery
3 to bootlick (literally 'lift the buttocks and praise the fart')

Characters

to lift up; to pick up

to hold up; to flatter

Examples

他在领导面前掇臀捧屁，同事们都看不下去。

Tā zài lǐngdǎo miànqián duōtúnpěngpì, tóngshìmen dōu kàn bu xiàqù.

He sucked up shamelessly to the boss — his colleagues couldn't stand to watch.

我宁愿丢工作也不想掇臀捧屁。

Wǒ nìngyuàn diū gōngzuò yě bù xiǎng duōtúnpěngpì.

I'd rather lose my job than have to bootlick anyone.

Tips

history

Recorded in Feng Menglong's late-Ming story collection 《醒世恒言》(Xǐngshì Héngyán, Stories to Awaken the World), Vol. 25: ‘白长吉自挨进了身子，无一日不来掇臀捧屁。’ The vivid disgust of the imagery — literally lifting someone's rear and praising their fart — is the whole point.

register

Crude and contemptuous. Use only in informal speech or pointed satire; in neutral writing prefer 阿谀奉承 (ēyú fèngchéng) or 拍马屁 (pāi mǎpì).

Stroke Order

掇 duō

臀 tún

捧 pěng

屁 pì