Chinese Meaning of 吹牛

In this episode of “Bite the word”, we are going to learn a new word which is related to an animal - 牛. 吹牛。“吹”，the first tone, blow； “牛”，the second tone, cattle. “Blow a cow”? Can you blow a cow and let it move? Definitely NO! So, don’t brag! 不要吹牛！

You may ask: Horses or sheep are heavy too. Why don’t you say ‘blow a horse or a sheep’? Well. Actually，“吹牛” is the abbreviation of “吹牛皮”. “牛皮”means cowhide. In ancient China, people thought cowhide cannot be blown into a round shape, because cowhide is too firm and too big. So if someone say: I can blow a cowhide, he must be bragging. In Chinese, we use “吹牛” or “吹牛皮”to describe a man who always talks big regardless of reality.

Dialogue 1

wǒ yǒu shì jiè shànɡ zuì hǎo de qì chē.

我有世界上最好的汽车。

I have the best car in the world.

bié chuī niú le ， kuài qù xiū chē bɑ ！

别吹牛了，快去修车吧！

Don’t brag. Your car is waiting for you to repair!

Dialogue 2

Linda shuō tā de nán pénɡ you hěn shuài

Linda说她的男朋友很帅。

Linda said her boyfriend is very handsome.

tā jiù ài chuī niú ， tā ɡēn běn méi yǒu nán pénɡ you ！

她就爱吹牛，她根本没有男朋友！

She is very good at bragging. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend!

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View the video of 吹牛

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