断章取义 (duàn zhāng-qǔ yì) — (idiom) to quote out of context; to cite selectively and distort the original meaning
Definition
A chengyu meaning to quote or cite out of context — pulling a sentence from a larger text and twisting its original meaning. Used to criticize selective, misleading quotation.
idiom
to quote out of contextto cite selectively and distort the original meaning
Examples
- 断章取义，。Tā zǒng xǐ huan duàn zhāng-qǔ yì, ràng rén wù huì tā de huà.He always likes to quote out of context, causing people to misunderstand his words.
- 断章取义，。Xiě lùn wén shí bú yào duàn zhāng-qǔ yì, yào quán miàn yǐn yòng.When writing a paper, don't quote out of context; cite comprehensively.
- 断章取义。Zhè zhǒng duàn zhāng-qǔ yì de zuò fǎ fēi cháng bù zhuān yè.This kind of out-of-context quoting is very unprofessional.
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