叶公好龙

1. • lit. Lord Ye's passion for dragons (idiom)
2. • fig. to pretend to be fond of sth while actually fearing it
3. • ostensible fondness of sth one really fears

Character by character

• 叶(yè)surname Ye
• 公(gōng)public
• 好(hào)be fond of
• 龙(lóng)surname Long