画大饼

畫大餅

huàdàbǐng

phrase

Meanings

1 to paint a big pancake (idiom)
2 to make grand empty promises
3 to sell pipe dreams (esp. an employer dangling vague future rewards)

Characters

to draw, to paint

flatbread, pancake

Examples

老板又在画大饼，说明年所有人都能升职。

Lǎobǎn yòu zài huàdàbǐng, shuō míngnián suǒyǒu rén dōu néng shēngzhí.

The boss is painting big pancakes again, saying everyone can get promoted next year.

别听他画大饼，先看工资和合同。

Bié tīng tā huàdàbǐng, xiān kàn gōngzī hé hétóng.

Don't listen to his grand promises — look at the salary and contract first.

Tips

usage

画大饼 is the colloquial, expanded form of the chengyu 画饼充饥 ('drawing a pancake to satisfy hunger'), retooled for office life: a manager 'draws a big pancake' — paints an appetizing future — but you can't actually eat it. One of the signature terms of modern Chinese workplace cynicism, alongside 996 and 内卷.

culture

Became a viral workplace meme during 2019-2021 with the rise of the 打工人 (wage-slave) discourse. Employees share screenshots of manager speeches captioned '又画大饼了'.

Stroke Order

画 huà

大 dà

饼 bǐng