又想当婊子又想立牌坊
yòu​xiǎng​dāng​biǎo​zi​yòu​xiǎng​lì​pái​fāng

to want to have one's cake and eat it too

  • created sense approved 又想当婊子又想立牌坊/又想當婊子又想立牌坊 · yòu​xiǎng​dāng​biǎo​zi​yòu​xiǎng​lì​pái​fāng · to want to have one's cake and eat it too — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    又想当婊子又想立牌坊 / 又想當婊子又想立牌坊

    yòu​xiǎng​dāng​biǎo​zi​yòu​xiǎng​lì​pái​fāng

    to want to have one's cake and eat it too

    Literally "to want to be a whore but also to set up a monument to one's chastity"; refers to someone who does bad things or has selfish intentions but still wants to maintain a virtuous reputation.

    又 (literal) → 又 · yòu · both... and... 想 (literal) → 想 · xiǎng · to want 当 (literal) → 当/當 · dāng · to serve as 婊子 (literal) → 婊子 · biǎo​zi · prostitute 又 (literal) → 又 · yòu · both... and... 想 (literal) → 想 · xiǎng · to want 立 (literal) → 立 · lì · to set up 牌坊 (literal) → 牌坊 · pái​fāng · memorial archway

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

    created sense