幌子 (huǎng zi) — shop sign, signboard; front, pretense, cover

Definition

A 幌子 is literally a shop signboard, but in modern use it almost always means 'a front or pretense' — something shown publicly to hide the real purpose. Often used after 以…为 / 打着…的 ('under the guise of').

noun
shop signsignboardfrontpretensecover
Measure word ·

Examples

  • 幌子
    Nà jiā lǎo diàn mén qián de huǎng zi yǐ jīng guà le jǐ shí nián le.
    That old shop's sign has been hanging for decades.
  • 幌子
    Tā men yǐ cí shàn wèi huǎng zi, shí jì shang shì zài piàn qián.
    They use charity as a front, but actually they're scamming money.
  • 幌子
    Zhè jiā gōng sī dǎ zhe huán bǎo de huǎng zi, què zài pò huài huán jìng.
    This company uses environmental protection as a cover while actually destroying the environment.

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