鱼目混珠

魚目混珠
yúmù-hùnzhū
idiom #58,694

Meanings

  1. 1 fish eyes mixed in with pearls
  2. 2 to pass off fakes as genuine
  3. 3 to confuse the false with the true

Examples

Shìchǎng shàng yúmùhùnzhū de xiànxiàng hěn chángjiàn, mǎi dōngxi yào xiǎoxīn.
Counterfeits passed off as genuine are common in the market — be careful when shopping.
Zhèxiē zì huà lǐ yǒu bùshǎo yúmùhùnzhū de yànpǐn.
Among these calligraphies and paintings there are quite a few fakes passed off as authentic.
Zhāopìn shí yào zǐxì shěnchá, fángzhǐ yúmùhùnzhū.
Vet candidates carefully when hiring, to keep imposters out.

Tips

history
From Wei Boyang's 《》 (Eastern Han alchemical text): 'how can fish eyes be pearls?' — a meditation on distinguishing the real from the false. The four-character idiom condensed from the line.
memory
A round, white fish eye looks just enough like a pearl to fool a careless buyer. The image captures every counterfeit-vs-genuine situation perfectly.

Stroke Order

hùn
zhū