Definition
瞒天过海 is a Chinese four-character idiom (chengyu) from a historical anecdote about the Tang dynasty general Xue Rengui, who disguised ships as buildings to cross the sea undetected. It means ‘to deceive someone so thoroughly and audaciously that they never realize what is happening.’ Often used to describe a cleverly disguised trick or a large-scale deception pulled off right under someone’s nose. It can appear as either an adverbial phrase or an independent statement, but it always retains its full idiomatic force.
idiom
to deceive someone brazenly and skillfullyto get away with something through audacious trickery
Examples
- 瞒天过海，。Tā yòng de mán tiān guò hǎi zhī jì, piàn guò le suǒyǒu rén.He used the trick of ‘deceiving the heavens and crossing the sea’ to fool everyone.
- 瞒天过海。Zhè zhǒng mán tiān guò hǎi de shǒufǎ zài shāngjiè bìng bù shǎojian.This kind of audacious deception is not uncommon in the business world.
- 瞒天过海，。Tāmen jìngrán zài lǎoshī yǎn pí dǐxià mán tiān guò hǎi, tōu huàn le shìjuàn.They actually pulled an ‘deceive the heavens and cross the sea’ right under the teacher’s nose and swapped the exam papers.
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