Chinese Idioms: 東施效顰

I saw news reports that Justin Bieber was wearing two giant pairs of sweatpants at once. 

Some people imitate this kind of wearing, but it's only cool when someone famous does it. Anyone else would be considered weird for dressing like that. The news uses the idiom 東施效顰 to describe this kind of person, so in this video, let's get to know the idiom: 東施效顰

東施(Dong Shi)： a woman's name 
效(xiao) ：仿效 imitate

顰(pin)： 皺眉 means frown：顰 is an archaic word. Bring your eyebrows together so that there are lines on your face above your eyes to show that you feel something uncomfortable.

Ancient China has four beauties. 西施(Xi Shi) is one of them. We use the idiom: 沉魚落雁(chen yu luo yan)、 閉月羞花(bi yue xiu hua) to describe the appearance of four beauties. 沉魚 It is said that the fish concentrate on staring at 西施 and forget to breathe, so fell into the deep water. You can find out more in this video, check the notes for the link.

Since even the fish couldn't deny the beauty of 西施, we know how beautiful she is and why 東施 will want to imitate her.

It's a sunny day, the weather is pleasant, a nice day for a walk.  Unfortunately, 西施 feels uncomfortable with her heart condition, so she frowns and puts her hand on her chest. 

You may think that people who are sick have an unattractive appearance. Somehow, even though she is sick, she still looks fabulous. looks like a beautiful painting. People who originally stayed at home couldn't help but go out and stare at her.

On the same street there was another woman named 東施. That day she saw 西施 walking on the street, and she too was attracted to her. She thinks that by imitating her, she will get praised. So she walks down the street with the same pose, but her face is not as pretty as 西施. So she makes people uncomfortable, and everyone goes back inside and closes the door and window to avoid seeing her.

Therefore, we use 東施效顰 to describe someone who wants to imitate someone else but fails, can't attract people or get praise, and instead makes people feel sick by doing it.

There is an idiom ⁠— 畫虎不成反類犬 ⁠⁠⁠Tried to draw a tiger but failed. Instead, the painting looks like a dog ⁠— has the similar meaning, Both contain the meaning that: to imitate something unsuccessfully and ending up making oneself look ridiculous.

Usually, "東施效顰" is used when someone imitates another person's appearance, but when talking about the method of doing things, you would use "畫虎不成反類犬".

For example:

他一次穿多件運動褲，是想模仿小賈斯汀嗎？

Is he trying to imitate Justin Bieber by wearing more than one sweatpants at once?

東施效顰。Fail to copy and look super stupid.

這部電影是名著改編的，但劇情改得亂七八糟，編劇根本不懂原著，真是畫虎不成反類犬。

This movie is based on a famous novel, but the plot is messed up. The screenwriter failed to understand the original novel and did a ridiculous job of it.