<p>指鹿为马 (calling a deer a horse) means &quot;brazenly twisting facts&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;pee on someone's leg and tell him it's raining.&quot; would be more accurate.</p>
<p>A good example would be saying &quot;military assault rifles are not responsible for the high fatality rate in mass shootings!&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-29T14:15:26.210Z
2023-03-29T14:15:26.210Z
Tang Ho
<p>&quot;The Emperor's New Clothes&quot; is a story that is close to the story of 指鹿为马.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-30T05:39:00.923Z
The similarity is 'telling the truth will cause you trouble' the story of 指鹿为马 is more sinister, it was a plot  to weed out the opposition by a powerful minister who wished to marginalize the king and grab power for himself, meanwhile 'The Emperor's New Clothes' focus on the foolishness of the emperor
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-30T14:38:57.927Z
The main character in the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" is the boy who tells the truth. In the story of 指鹿为马, it is all about the intrigues of all the characters.
PdotWang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-30T02:38:05.413Z
2023-03-30T02:38:05.413Z
PdotWang
<p>While 指鹿为马 does mean the act of &quot;twisting facts&quot;, the real, or most important, lesson is the sarcasm of people upholding(附合) the absurd(荒謬/顛倒黑白) claim made by the person who has unchangeable power over their fate/future(權勢).</p>
<p>Your story does have the absurdity but lacks the detail of a crowd agreeing with the absurd claim due to fear/greed, therefore, IMO, a misuse of the idiom.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-03-30T13:13:19.470Z
2023-03-30T13:13:19.470Z
r13
<p>It is a metaphor of political correctness.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-22T08:54:21.380Z
2023-04-22T08:54:21.380Z
Zhao
<p>I'm teaching idioms to university students in China. I wonder if 指鹿为马 could be used as a translation / explanation of &quot;Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.&quot; Yeah, that's not a high-frequency idiom, but I like to throw in some fun ones every once in a while.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-11T03:13:25.047Z
some powerful political figure asserts an absurd statement recognizing deer as horse, and no one dares to refute. then this can mean: 1) absurd recognition mistake; 2) absurd statement secured by political suppression.
ZhenRanZR
<translation><usage>
Does "指鹿为马" mean "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining"?
# Does "指鹿为马" mean "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-03-29)

I'm teaching idioms to university students in China. I wonder if 指鹿为马 could be used as a translation / explanation of "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining." Yeah, that's not a high-frequency idiom, but I like to throw in some fun ones every once in a while.

**Tags:** translation, usage

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: some powerful political figure asserts an absurd statement recognizing deer as horse, and no one dares to refute. then this can mean: 1) absurd recognition mistake; 2) absurd statement secured by political suppression.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-03-29. Score: 2

指鹿为马 (calling a deer a horse) means "brazenly twisting facts"

"pee on someone's leg and tell him it's raining." would be more accurate.

A good example would be saying "military assault rifles are not responsible for the high fatality rate in mass shootings!"


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### Answer by username_3 on 2023-03-30. Score: 1

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a story that is close to the story of 指鹿为马.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: The similarity is 'telling the truth will cause you trouble' the story of 指鹿为马 is more sinister, it was a plot  to weed out the opposition by a powerful minister who wished to marginalize the king and grab power for himself, meanwhile 'The Emperor's New Clothes' focus on the foolishness of the emperor  
> **username_3**: The main character in the story "The Emperor's New Clothes" is the boy who tells the truth. In the story of 指鹿为马, it is all about the intrigues of all the characters.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2023-03-30. Score: 0

While 指鹿为马 does mean the act of "twisting facts", the real, or most important, lesson is the sarcasm of people upholding(附合) the absurd(荒謬/顛倒黑白) claim made by the person who has unchangeable power over their fate/future(權勢).

Your story does have the absurdity but lacks the detail of a crowd agreeing with the absurd claim due to fear/greed, therefore, IMO, a misuse of the idiom.


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### Answer by username_5 on 2023-04-22. Score: -1

It is a metaphor of political correctness.


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