西瓜皮洗脸,干净不了西瓜皮洗臉,乾淨不了西瓜皮洗臉,乾淨不了

washing your face with watermelon rind: it can't get clean

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: Mocking: a person with something dubious in their record can't be innocent or made to look clean.
Wordplay: 干净 (gānjing) means both physically clean and morally clear or innocent.

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Simplified: 西瓜皮洗脸,干净不了
Traditional (Taiwan): 西瓜皮洗臉,乾淨不了
Pinyin: xīguā pí xǐliǎn,gānjìng bù liǎo
Bopomofo: ㄒㄧㄍㄨㄚㄆㄧˊ ㄒㄧˇ ㄌㄧㄢˇ,ㄍㄢㄐㄧㄥˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧㄠˇ

Written with HSK 6 vocabulary, at CEFR level B2.

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