JLPT N1Four-character idioms
巧言令色
- Meaning
- 巧みな言葉や愛想のよい表情で人にこびへつらうこと
- Explanation
- "巧言令色" comes from the Analects' "巧言令色、鮮なし仁" (clever words and an ingratiating face seldom accompany benevolence). It refers to an insincere attitude of trying to win others over with merely glib words and a put-on, agreeable expression. It is a negative term of judgment. c2 and c3 mistakenly read it benevolently as "encourage" or "entertain", but its core meaning is the negative implication of flattery and pretense.
Original Japanese explanation
「巧言令色」は『論語』の「巧言令色、鮮なし仁」に由来し、口先だけの巧みな言葉と取り繕った愛想のよい表情で人に取り入ろうとする、誠実さに欠けた態度をいう。否定的な評価語である。c2・c3 は「励ます」「もてなす」と善意に解した誤りで、本来はへつらいや偽りという負の含意が核心。
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