瞎猫碰上死耗子

瞎貓碰上死耗子

xiāmāopèngshàngsǐhàozi

idiom

Meanings

1 a blind cat bumps into a dead mouse - pure dumb luck
2 to succeed by sheer coincidence

Characters

(directional complement)

Examples

HSK 5

他第一次买彩票就中了，真是瞎猫碰上死耗子。

Tā dìyī cì mǎi cǎipiào jiù zhòng le, zhēnshì xiāmāopèngshàngsǐhàozi.

He won the lottery on his first ticket - talk about blind luck.

HSK 7-9

我哪有那个本事，纯粹是瞎猫碰上死耗子。

Wǒ nǎ yǒu nàge běnshì, chúncuì shì xiāmāopèngshàngsǐhàozi.

I'm not actually that good - it was pure dumb luck, like a blind cat stumbling on a dead mouse.

Tips

register

Colloquial xiehouyu-style saying. Often self-deprecating: you use it about yourself to wave off praise ('I just got lucky'). Used about others, it can sting - implying their success owed nothing to skill.

Stroke Order

瞎 xiā

猫 māo

碰 pèng

上 shàng

死 sǐ

耗 hào

子 zǐ