溜须拍马

溜鬚拍馬

liūxū-pāimǎ

idiom #65,107

Meanings

1 to smooth whiskers and pat a horse's rump
2 to suck up to the boss
3 to brown-nose / toady

Characters

to smooth / slide

Examples

他就靠溜须拍马升了职。

Tā jiù kào liūxū-pāimǎ shēng le zhí.

He got promoted purely by sucking up.

我讨厌那种溜须拍马的同事。

Wǒ tǎoyàn nàzhǒng liūxū-pāimǎ de tóngshì.

I hate colleagues who brown-nose the boss.

Tips

history

溜须 (smooth the whiskers) traces back to a Song-dynasty story in which chancellor 寇准's beard caught food; his subordinate 丁谓 rushed to wipe it for him, earning lasting ridicule. 拍马 comes from the Mongol habit of patting each other's horses in praise. The two fused into a single phrase for obsequious flattery.

Stroke Order

溜 liū

须 xū

拍 pāi

马 mǎ