笑里藏刀 in English xiao4 li3 cang2 dao1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) a dagger hidden in smiles (idiomatic expression); friendly manners belying hypocritical intentions
  • when the fox preaches, look to the geese

Simplified Characters

笑 里 藏 刀

Traditional Characters

笑 裡 藏 刀

Pinyin

xiao4 li3 cang2 dao1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

笑xiao4old variant of 笑[xiao4] 里li3variant of 裡|里[li3] 藏cang2Tibet 刀dao1surname Dao