断章取义

斷章取義
duànzhāngqǔyì
idiom #30,041

Meanings

  1. 1 to quote out of context
  2. 2 to take something out of context
  3. 3 to distort the meaning by selective quotation

Examples

Tā duànzhāngqǔyì, wánquán wāiqū le wǒ de yìsi.
He quoted me out of context and completely distorted my meaning.
Méitǐ duànzhāngqǔyì de bàodào yǐnfā le gōngzhòng de wùjiě.
The media's out-of-context reporting caused public misunderstanding.

Tips

memory
(cut) + (section/chapter) + (take) + (meaning) — cut a section and take only the meaning you want. Visualize someone cutting a paragraph from a book to misrepresent the author.

Stroke Order

duàn
zhāng