墙头草

牆頭草
qiángtóucǎo
noun #30,608

Meanings

  1. 1 fence-sitter
  2. 2 opportunist
  3. 3 person who bends to whichever side has the advantage
  4. 4 (literally) grass on top of a wall

Examples

Tā shì gè qiángtóucǎo, shéi yǒu quán jiù gēn shéi.
He's a fence-sitter - he sides with whoever's in power.
Zuòrén bùnéng dāng qiángtóucǎo.
You can't go through life as an opportunist with no convictions.

Tips

memory
Vivid metaphor: grass growing on top of an old wall has nothing anchoring it sideways, so it bends whichever way the wind happens to blow. The full proverbial form is 墙头草两边 - 'wall-top grass, leans both ways' - applied to politicians, employees, or anyone who lacks loyalty.
register
Strongly pejorative - calling someone a 墙头草 is an accusation of cowardice and disloyalty, not a neutral observation. Compare the milder 见风使舵 'set the sail by the wind,' which can be admiring of pragmatism in some contexts.

Stroke Order

qiáng
tóu
cǎo