Chengyu Stories: Why does 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhūhū) mean “so-so” in Mandarin?

Time to reveal all…

While studying Chinese, you will learn a lot of 4 character idiomatic expressions, alluding to a story or historical quote.

These set phrases are called 成语 chéngyǔ and they are still common in the written and spoken language today.

Among the best-known Chinese chéngyǔ, 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhūhū) is considered the easiest and the funniest one.

This expression means “Horse horse tiger tiger”. However, despite its literal translation, this idiom has two main meanings:

1. It can describe a careless person or actions that are performed carelessly
2. It can also mean “so-so”.

14 Chinese TV Shows for Practicing Your Chinese

The Very Best Chinese TV Shows to Learn Chinese When it comes to learning Chinese, Chinese TV shows is a huge resource. How many times have you complained that you can read or write Chinese okay (which is no small…

Do you know the story behind Mamahuhu…?

Once upon a time, there was a painter.

One day the painter was drawing a tiger when a man came to him and asked to have a horse picture instead.

Unwilling to start a new painting, the artist just randomly added a horse body under the tiger head. 

When the customer saw it he found it weird and left so the painting was hung in the family living room.

In the following days, the artist’s eldest son came and asked his father what the painting depicted.

The artist said: “That’s a tiger!”.

Afterward, the younger son came along and asked him the same question, but, this time his father said it was a horse.

Later on, the elder son saw a horse….

Thinking it was a tiger, he killed it, incurring costs for the father who had to pay the horse’s owner for damages. The younger son then encountered a tiger.

Mistaking it for a horse, he died in the attempt to ride it. From then on, everybody called the painter Mr. Horse-Tiger.

Nowadays the term is used to describe someone who is careless or a situation which is just “so-so” or ‘not bad’.

Examples of Mamahuhu in action

最近怎么样？
Zuìjìn zěnme yàng?
How are you these days?
马马虎虎。
(Mǎmǎhūhū)
So-so.

她的论文我只是马马虎虎地看了一下。
Tā de lùnwén wǒ zhǐshì mǎmǎhūhū de kànle yīxià
I merely glanced over her thesis.

In Summary Mamahuhu means…

Literally, “Horse horse tiger tiger”. The actual meanings are two fold

1. A careless person
2. So-so / not so bad

Chinese Chengyu || FAQs