颠倒是非 (diān dǎo shì fēi) — to deliberately confuse right and wrong; to turn truth on its head

Definition

A set phrase meaning 'to deliberately turn truth upside down' — to call black white for selfish reasons. Note that 颠倒 carries the sense of intentional distortion, not a simple mistake.

verb
to deliberately confuse right and wrongto turn truth on its head

Examples

  • ，颠倒是非，。
    Tā wèi le zì jǐ de lì yì, jìng rán diān dǎo shì fēi, qī piàn dà jiā.
    For his own benefit, he actually confounded right and wrong and deceived everyone.
  • 颠倒是非，。
    Xīn wén bào dào bù néng diān dǎo shì fēi, bì xū kè guān zhēn shí.
    News reports must not distort the truth; they must be objective and factual.
  • 颠倒是非，。
    Yǒu xiē rén xǐ huan diān dǎo shì fēi, bǎ hēi de shuō chéng bái de.
    Some people like to confuse right and wrong, calling black white.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 顛; 颠 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn顛diān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 顛 combines 頁, a head, with 真 as a sound clue; the simplified 颠 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical pieces.

Open 颠 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
到
到dào倒dào
Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

Open 倒 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 是 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 非 is drawn from two wings facing opposite directions. It later came to be used for going against or not being.

Open 非 →

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