内行看门道，外行看热闹 / 內行看門道，外行看熱鬧

nèi​háng​kàn​mén​dao​wài​háng​kàn​rè​nao

to know the ropes

experts look for the deeper meaning and technique in a performance or task while laymen only look at the surface-level spectacle

nèi​háng​kàn​mén​dào​wài​háng​kàn​rè​nào

内行 (literal) → 内行/內行 · nèi​háng · expert 看 (literal) → 看 · kàn · to see 门道 (literal) → 门道/門道 · mén​dao · knack ， (non_chinese) 外行 (literal) → 外行 · wài​háng · layman; unprofessional 看 (literal) → 看 · kàn · to see 热闹 (literal) → 热闹/熱鬧 · rè​nao · excitement

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM