发号施令 (fā hào shī lìng) — to boss people around; to issue orders (in a high-handed or self-important manner)
Definition
An idiom meaning to issue orders in a bossy, high-handed way — carries a negative judgment, unlike neutral verbs for giving instructions. The character pattern is a-b-c-d parallel with a reduplicated 'order' sense (号 and 令).
idiom
to boss people aroundto issue orders (in a high-handed or self-important manner)
Examples
- 发号施令，。Tā gāng dāng shàng jīng lǐ jiù kāi shǐ duì dà jiā fā hào shī lìng, yì diǎn yě bù zūn zhòng bié rén.As soon as he became manager he started bossing everyone around without any respect for others.
- ，发号施令。Zài zhè ge xiàng mù lǐ, méi yǒu rén xǐ huan tā nà zhǒng fā hào shī lìng de tài dù.In this project, nobody likes his attitude of ordering people around.
- ，发号施令。Lǐng dǎo yīng gāi duō tīng tīng dà jiā de yì jiàn, ér bú shì zhǐ guǎn fā hào shī lìng.Leaders should listen to everyone's opinions more, not just issue orders.
Appears in
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