Definition
掩耳盗铃 (yǎn ěr-dào líng) is a chengyu (four-character idiom) meaning 'self-deception'. It comes from a story of a man covering his ears while stealing a bell, thinking that if he can't hear it, others can't either. It describes the foolish act of ignoring obvious facts to deceive oneself.
phrase
self-deceptionto deceive oneself by ignoring obvious facts
Examples
- ，掩耳盗铃。Tā xiǎng yǐnmán zhēnxiàng, zhè wánquán shì yǎn ěr-dào líng.He wants to hide the truth — that's pure self-deception.
- ，掩耳盗铃？Bù chéngrèn zìjǐ de cuòwù, bú jiù shì yǎn ěr-dào líng ma?Refusing to admit your own mistakes isn't that just deceiving yourself?
- 掩耳盗铃。Huíbì wèntí zhǐ huì bèi shì wéi yǎn ěr-dào líng de xíngwéi.Avoiding the problem will only be seen as self-deception.
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