露出马脚

露出馬腳

lùchūmǎjiǎo

idiom

Meanings

1 to give the game away
2 to let the cat out of the bag
3 to reveal one's true nature

Characters

Examples

他撒谎时不小心露出马脚了。

Tā sāhuǎng shí bù xiǎoxīn lùchū mǎjiǎo le.

While lying, he accidentally gave himself away.

骗子最终露出马脚，被警方抓获。

Piànzi zuìzhōng lùchū mǎjiǎo, bèi jǐngfāng zhuāhuò.

The fraudster eventually slipped up and was caught by the police.

Tips

culture

Legend traces the phrase to Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang's wife Empress Ma, who — unusually for her era — had unbound ('horse') feet. When the wind blew her skirt aside, her large feet showed: 露马脚. The slip revealed what was hidden.

Stroke Order

露 lù

出 chū

马 mǎ

脚 jiǎo