irrelevant answer; misfit; incongruous
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesidiom
(metaphor) to give an irrelevant answer; to be incongruous; to be a complete misfit
Used to describe answers that do not address the question asked, or things that simply do not fit together properly. A variant form is 牛头不对马嘴.
Zhè这
gè个
bǐ比
fāng方
dǎ打
de得
bù不
tuǒ妥
dàng当
，
yǒu有
diǎn点
lǘ驴
chún唇
bù不
duì对
mǎ马
zuǐ嘴
。
This analogy is inappropriate; it's a bit of a misfit.
Nǐ你
dá答
de得
lǘ驴
chún唇
bù不
duì对
mǎ马
zuǐ嘴
，
wǒ我
wèn问
de的
shì是
jià价
gé格
，
nǐ你
shuō说
de的
shì是
zhì质
liàng量
。
Your answer is completely irrelevant—I asked about the price, and you're talking about quality.
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Zhè这
liǎng两
jiàn件
shì事
lǘ驴
chún唇
bù不
duì对
mǎ马
zuǐ嘴
，
zěn怎
me么
néng能
hùn混
wéi为
yī一
tán谈
？
These two matters are completely unrelated—how can you lump them together?
Tā他
shuō说
de的
huà话
lǘ驴
chún唇
bù不
duì对
mǎ马
zuǐ嘴
，
gēn根
běn本
méi没
rén人
néng能
tīng听
dǒng懂
。
What he said was incoherent gibberish—nobody could understand it at all.