← IDIOMS · CAUTION
HSK 7-9
diān颠overturndǎo倒inverthēi黑blackbái白white
To distort the facts; to turn black into white; to invert right and wrong.

Literal meaning

overturn (颠) — invert (倒) — black (黑) — white (白)

Origin

A classical four-character phrase.

Examples

Tā他shì试tú图diān颠dǎo倒hēi黑bái白,yǎng掩ài盖zì自jǐ己de的cuò错wù误。
He tried to distort the facts to cover up his mistakes.
Wǒ我men们bù不néng能róng容rěn忍zhè这zhǒng种diān颠dǎo倒hēi黑bái白de的xíng行wéi为。
We cannot tolerate this kind of distortion of facts.

Usage & nuances

Strongly negative; implies deliberate misrepresentation and deception.

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