旗杆上绑鸡毛
qí​gān​shàng​bǎng​jī​máo

extremely daring

  • created sense approved 旗杆上绑鸡毛/旗杆上綁雞毛 · qí​gān​shàng​bǎng​jī​máo · extremely daring — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    旗杆上绑鸡毛 / 旗杆上綁雞毛

    qí​gān​shàng​bǎng​jī​máo

    extremely daring

    (xiehouyu) To be incredibly bold or audacious. This is a pun on the literal image of tying chicken feathers to a flagpole to make a massive feather duster [[鸡毛掸子|雞毛撣子|ji1 mao2 dan3 zi5]]. The word for duster, [[掸子|撣子|dan3 zi5]], sounds like the word for courage or gall, [[胆子|膽子|dan3 zi5]].

    旗杆 (literal) → 旗杆/旗桿 · qí​gān · flagpole 上 (bound) → 上 · shang · on 绑 (literal) → 绑/綁 · bǎng · to tie 鸡毛 (literal) → 鸡毛/雞毛 · jī​máo · chicken feather

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

    created sense