狗嘴里吐不出象牙 gǒu zuǐ li tǔ bù chū xiàng yá

no good words are to be expected from a scoundrel

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. no good words are to be expected from a scoundrel
  2. 2. no ivory comes from the mouth of a dog (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
狗 gǒu HSK 1
dog
嘴 zuǐ HSK 3
mouth; beak; spout (of teapot etc)
里 li HSK 1
inside; interior; internal
吐 tǔ HSK 5
to spit; to say; to put
不 bù HSK 1
not; no; (negative prefix)
出 chū HSK 1
to go out; to come out
象 xiàng HSK 4
elephant; appearance; shape
牙 yá HSK 3
tooth; ivory