treo đầu dê bán thịt chó
Vietnamese
Etymology
Calque of Chinese 掛羊頭賣狗肉 (quải dương đầu mại cẩu nhục).
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [t͡ɕɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˨˩ ze˧˧ ʔɓaːn˧˦ tʰit̚˧˨ʔ t͡ɕɔ˧˦]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʈɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˦˩ jej˧˧ ʔɓaːŋ˦˧˥ tʰit̚˨˩ʔ t͡ɕɔ˨˩˦]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʈɛw˧˧ ʔɗəw˨˩ jej˧˧ ʔɓaːŋ˦˥ tʰɨt̚˨˩˨ cɔ˦˥]
Verb
treo đầu dê bán thịt chó
- (literally) to put up goat heads, but actually be selling dog meat
- (figuratively, advertising) to practice blatantly false advertising