扫地僧 (Sǎodìsēng): the Sweeper Monk: a nameless mo…

Meanings

1 the Sweeper Monk: a nameless monk who sweeps the Shaolin sutra library in Jin Yong’s novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龙八部); by extension, an unassuming master whose true power is hidden

Characters

扫

Examples

他平时不爱说话，没想到是个扫地僧。

Tā píngshí bù ài shuōhuà, méi xiǎngdào shì gè sǎodìsēng.

He’s usually quiet — turns out he was a hidden master all along.

公司里那位老工程师就是个扫地僧。

Gōngsī lǐ nà wèi lǎo gōngchéngshī jiùshì gè sǎodìsēng.

That veteran engineer at the company is the office’s “sweeper monk”.

Tips

culture

Originally a minor character in 金庸 Jin Yong’s 天龙八部, the Sweeper Monk silently outclasses all the novel’s top fighters in a single chapter. Now a stock metaphor in Chinese internet culture for the quiet expert nobody noticed — your janitor / intern who is secretly the best in the room.