口是心非

口是心非

Chinese

		mouth; (a measure word, for people, livestock or utensils)	be; yes; this	heart; mind	(be) not; wrong; blame (be) not; wrong; blame; Africa
simp. and trad. (口是心非)		口	是	心	非
Literally: “mouth (says) yes, heart (says) no”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kǒushìxīnfēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄡˇ ㄕˋ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄈㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hau² si⁶ sam¹ fei¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: kǒushìxīnfēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄡˇ ㄕˋ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄈㄟ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kooushyhshinfei
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʂʐ̩⁵¹ ɕin⁵⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: hau² si⁶ sam¹ fei¹
    • Yale: háu sih sām fēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hau² si⁶ sam¹ fei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: heo² xi⁶ sem¹ féi¹
    • IPA ^(key): /hɐu̯³⁵ siː²² sɐm⁵⁵ fei̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

口是心非

1. to say one thing but mean another; what one thinks is different from what one says; two-faced; duplicity

Usage notes

Not to be interpreted strictly literally ― often it is intended to mean “mouth says no, heart yes” instead. The opposite idiom 口非心是 exists, but is very rare and is used to emphasise that meaning.