狗嘴里吐不出象牙

狗嘴裡吐不出象牙
gǒuzuǐlǐtǔbùchūxiàngyá
  1. (figurative) no fine or truthful speech is to be expected from the mouth of a bad person
  2. no fine or truthful speech is to be expected from the mouth of a bad person

Wiktionary

Homographs

狗嘴里吐不出象牙 gǒuzuǐlitǔbùchūxiàngyá
  1. lit. no ivory comes from the mouth of a dog (idiom)
  2. fig. one does not expect fine words from a scoundrel

Entry Composition

1 狗 gǒu dog

classifiers: 隻, 條
2 嘴里 zuǐlǐ
  1. mouth
  2. in the mouth
  3. on one's lips
  4. speech
  5. words
=3 吐 tǔ
  1. to spit
  2. to send out (silk from a silkworm, bolls from cotton flowers etc)
  3. to say
  4. to pour out (one's grievances)
=3 吐 tù
  1. to vomit
  2. to throw up
4 不出 bùchū to not exceed; to not surpass
5 象牙 xiàngyá
  1. ivory
  2. elephant tusk