睁着眼睛说瞎话

睜著眼睛說瞎話

zhēngzheyǎnjingshuōxiāhuà

idiom

Meanings

1 to lie through one's teeth
2 to tell a barefaced lie
3 to talk drivel with eyes wide open

Characters

to open (the eyes)

(durative particle)

blind / nonsensical

Examples

HSK 4

数据摆在那里，你别睁着眼睛说瞎话。

Shùjù bǎi zài nàlǐ, nǐ bié zhēngzheyǎnjingshuōxiāhuà.

The data is right there - don't sit there telling barefaced lies.

HSK 5

他明明拿了，还睁着眼睛说瞎话。

Tā míngmíng ná le, hái zhēngzheyǎnjingshuōxiāhuà.

He clearly took it, and yet he's still lying through his teeth.

Tips

memory

Literally: 'with eyes wide open, speak blind talk' (瞎话 = lies). The image is a person staring at the truth in front of them and still lying about it - exactly the English 'with a straight face' or 'barefaced'. The 着 here is the durative aspect particle (zhe), describing the lying happening while the eyes are open.

register

Colloquial and accusatory; deployed when calling someone out for an obvious lie. The shorter idiom 信口雌黄 (xìnkǒu cíhuáng) is the more literary equivalent.

Stroke Order

睁 zhēng

着 zhe

眼 yǎn

睛 jīng

说 shuō

瞎 xiā

话 huà