狗嘴里吐不出象牙
gǒu​zuǐ​lǐ​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yágǒu​zuǐ​li​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá

nothing nice comes from a filthy mouth

  • created reference approved 狗嘴里吐不出象牙/狗嘴裡吐不出象牙 → 狗口里吐不出象牙/狗口裡吐不出象牙 (variant) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    狗嘴里吐不出象牙 / 狗嘴裡吐不出象牙 gǒu​zuǐ​lǐ​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá

    狗口里吐不出象牙 / 狗口裡吐不出象牙 gǒu​kǒu​lǐ​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá

    variant

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 狗嘴里吐不出象牙/狗嘴裏吐不出象牙 · gǒu​zuǐ​li​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá · a filthy mouth cannot utter decent language — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    狗嘴里吐不出象牙 / 狗嘴裏吐不出象牙

    gǒu​zuǐ​li​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá

    a filthy mouth cannot utter decent language

    literally translated as "no ivory comes from the mouth of a dog"; one cannot expect decent or polite words from a person with a vulgar or malicious characterless mind

    狗 (literal) → 狗 · gǒu · dog 嘴 (literal) → 嘴 · zuǐ · mouth 里 (bound) → 里/裡 · li · in 吐 (literal) → 吐 · tǔ · to spit 不出 (literal) → 不出 · bù​chū · not exceed 象牙 (literal) → 象牙 · xiàng​yá · ivory

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

    created sense

  • created sense approved 狗嘴里吐不出象牙/狗嘴裡吐不出象牙 · gǒu​zuǐ​lǐ​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá · nothing nice comes from a filthy mouth — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    狗嘴里吐不出象牙 / 狗嘴裡吐不出象牙

    gǒu​zuǐ​lǐ​tǔ​bù​chū​xiàng​yá

    nothing nice comes from a filthy mouth

    A mean person never has a good word to say; used to insult someone whose speech is crude or unpleasant.

    狗 (literal) → 狗 · gǒu · dog 嘴里 (literal) → 嘴里/嘴裡 · zuǐ​li · in the mouth 吐 (literal) → 吐 · tǔ · to spit 不出 (literal) → 不出 · bù​chū · not exceed 象牙 (literal) → 象牙 · xiàng​yá · ivory

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

    created sense