Information becomes distorted or misinterpreted as it is passed from person to person; a case of a story being twisted through word-of-mouth.
这个消息经过几个人转述后，已经完全变味了，真是丁公凿井啊。
After being relayed by several people, this piece of news was completely distorted, truly a case of information being twisted through word-of-mouth.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Story:
During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a man named Ding in the State of Song. He dug a well in his own courtyard.
Because he personally participated in the digging and adopted a new method, he saved one laborer. Afterwards, he told others, 'I dug a well and obtained one person's labor.'
However, others did not understand his true meaning. As the story was passed from person to person, it became distorted, and everyone eventually believed that he had actually dug a person out of the well.
Next Idiom