出爾反爾

Chinese

		to go out; to come out; to occur to go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise; to put forth; to happen; (a measure word for dramas, plays, or operas)	you	to return	you
trad. (出爾反爾)		出	爾	反	爾
simp. (出尔反尔)		出	尔	反	尔
Literally: “What comes from you, goes back to you”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王下》). Originally means "you get treated in the same way that you treat others". Now "to contradict oneself".

曾子曰：『戒之戒之！出乎爾者，反乎爾者也。』夫民今而後得反之也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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曾子曰：『戒之戒之！出乎尔者，反乎尔者也。』夫民今而后得反之也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Céngzǐ yuē: ‘Jiè zhī jiè zhī! Chū hū ěr zhě, fǎn hū ěr zhě yě.’ Fú mín jīn ér hòu dé fǎn zhī yě. [Pinyin]

The philosopher Zeng said, "Beware, beware. What proceeds from you, will return to you again." Now at length the people have paid back the conduct of their officers to them.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chū'ěrfǎn'ěr

  (Zhuyin): ㄔㄨ ㄦˇ ㄈㄢˇ ㄦˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ceot¹ ji⁵ faan² ji⁵
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): cug⁴ re² huêng² re²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chū'ěrfǎn'ěr [Phonetic: chūérfáněr]
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄨ ㄦˇ ㄈㄢˇ ㄦˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chu-ěrfǎn-ěr
    • Wade–Giles: chʻu¹-êrh³-fan³-êrh³
    • Yale: chū-ěr-fǎn-ěr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chueelfaaneel
    • Palladius: чуэрфаньэр (čuerfanʹer)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ fän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ceot¹ ji⁵ faan² ji⁵
    • Yale: chēut yíh fáan yíh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoet⁷ ji⁵ faan² ji⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: cêd¹ yi⁵ fan² yi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɵt̚⁵ jiː¹³ faːn³⁵ jiː¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: cug⁴ re² huêng² re²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tshuk jṳ́ huéng jṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰuk̚²⁻⁴ d͡zɯ⁵²⁻³⁵ hueŋ⁵²⁻³⁵ d͡zɯ⁵²⁻²¹/

Idiom

出爾反爾

1. to break a promise

Synonyms

• (Hokkien) 反入反出, 反出反入