献丑

獻醜
xiànchǒu
verb #43,346

Meanings

  1. 1 to show off one's poor skill (humble self-deprecation)
  2. 2 to put one's amateur effort on display

Examples

Wǒ chàng de bù hǎo, xiànchǒu le.
I don't sing well — please excuse my poor performance.
Nà wǒ jiù xiànchǒu gěi dàjiā tán yī shǒu ba.
All right, I'll embarrass myself and play one for everyone.

Tips

register
A polite, self-deprecating word used by the performer themselves before or after singing, playing, drawing, etc. Literally 'to present my ugliness'. Never used to describe someone else — saying 献丑 about another person would be an insult, not a compliment.
culture
Part of the Chinese repertoire of formulaic modesty (), alongside (zhuōzuò, 'my crude work'), 寒舍 (hánshè, 'my humble dwelling'), and (zhuōjiàn, 'my poor opinion'). Saying 献丑 even when you performed brilliantly is the expected courtesy.

Stroke Order

xiàn
chǒu