口是心非
- Literal
- mouth yes, heart no
- Figurative
- Saying one thing while meaning another, so that your words don't match what you feel. It faults insincerity, sometimes teasingly, rather than hidden malice.
Where does 口是心非 come from?
It does not come from an anecdote. The phrase already appears in the Baopuzi, the work of the Taoist Ge Hong (Jin dynasty), in a list of bad conduct. The image is a pair of opposites: 是 ("yes, right") in the mouth and 非 ("no, wrong") in the heart, that is, agreeing out loud while thinking the opposite inside. Today it is used to reproach someone who is not being sincere, and also affectionately, when someone says they don't want something they actually do. Unlike 口蜜腹剑, it does not imply that anyone is plotting harm.
Source (出处): 《抱朴子·微旨》
How is 口是心非 used? Two examples
- 她说生日不要礼物，其实是口是心非，你可别当真。
She says she doesn't want anything for her birthday, but she doesn't mean it, so don't take her at her word.
- 他开会时口是心非，嘴上支持方案，私下却一直抱怨。
In meetings he says what he doesn't mean: he backs the plan out loud, then complains about it nonstop in private.
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