尾巴难藏 — “Unable to conceal one's true nature, flaws, or intentions”

尾巴难藏 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Unable to conceal one's true nature, flaws, or intentions”. One's weaknesses or true self are inevitably exposed. Literally, “Difficult to hide one's tail”.

Frequency

尾巴难藏 Pronunciation and Pinyin

尾巴难藏 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
尾	wěi	7	animal tail, end, follow
巴	ba	4	to cling or hope for
难	nán	10	difficult, troublesome, or bad
藏	cáng	18	to hide or store

Example Sentence with 尾巴难藏

他虽然极力掩饰自己的紧张，但颤抖的声音还是让他尾巴难藏。

Although he tried his best to hide his nervousness, his trembling voice made it difficult for him to conceal his true state.

Origin and Story of 尾巴难藏

After Sun Wukong wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, the Jade Emperor dispatched Erlang Shen, the Illustrious and Holy Monarch, to lead heavenly soldiers and generals to Huaguo Mountain to capture him. Erlang Shen and Sun Wukong engaged in a magical shapeshifting battle.

Erlang Shen first transformed into a sparrow, and Sun Wukong immediately countered by becoming an eagle. Erlang Shen then changed into a gray crane, to which Sun Wukong responded by transforming into a local earth god's temple. However, a monkey's tail is notoriously difficult to conceal; Sun Wukong's tail remained exposed, forcing him to ingeniously transform it into a flagpole atop the temple.