Idiom: 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhuhu)

• 马（mǎ）horse
• 虎 (hǔ) tiger
• 马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhuhu) just so so
• 马虎 （mǎhu） careless

David: 好久不见，最近怎么样？Hǎo jiǔ bú jiàn, zuìjìn zěnmeyàng? Long time no see. How are you? 

Jiaming:马马虎虎。Mǎmǎhuhu. So-so

This is the story behind this idiom:

In the Song Dynasty, there was a painter who liked to paint anything he felt like painting. Most people could not understand his paintings.

Sòngdài yǒu ge huàjiā, zuòhuà wǎngwǎng suíxīnsuǒyù, lìng rén gǎo bù qīng tā huà de shì shénme.

宋代有个画家，作画往往随心所欲，令人搞不清他画的是什么。

One day, when he had just finished a painting of a tiger' head, his friend came to ask him for a painting of a horse. So, he painted a horse's body behind the tiger's head.

Yítiān , tā gāng huà le yí ge hǔtóu, yǒu ge péngyou lái qǐng tā huà mǎ,tā jiù suíshǒu zài hǔtóu hòu huà shàng mǎ de shēnzi.

一天，他刚画了一个虎头，有个朋友来请他画马，他就随手在虎头后画上了马的身子。

His friend asked him if the painting was of a tiger or a horse.

tā de péngyou wèn tā huà de shì hǔ háishì mǎ.

他的朋友问他画的是虎还是马？

He answered "马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhuhu) horse and tiger".

tā dá: "mǎmǎhuhu!"

他答：“马马虎虎”

His friend rejected his painting, so he put it up in his living room.

Péngyou méiyǒu yào huà, tā biàn bǎ huà guà zài tīngtáng.

朋友没有要画，他便把画挂在厅堂。

His eldest son asked him "what was in the painting?" He answered, "a tiger." However, when his younger son asked him he answered, "a horse."

Dà érzǐ jiànle wèn tā huà lǐ shì shénme, tā shuō shì hǔ, xiǎo érzǐ wèn tā, tā shuō shì mǎ.

大儿子见了问他，画里是什么，他说是虎，小儿子问他，他说是马。

Shortly after this, his eldest son while hunting shot someone’s horse because he thought it was a tiger. The painter had to pay the owner of the horse a lot of money.

Bùjiǔ, dà érzǐ wàichū dǎliè shí, bǎ rén jiā de mǎ dāngchéng lǎohǔ shè sǐ le,huàjiā bùdébù gěi mǎ zhǔrén péi qián.

不久，大儿子外出打猎时，把人家的马当成老虎射死了。画家不得不给马主人赔钱。

His second son went out and saw a tiger and he wanted to ride it because he thought it was a horse. But, when the boy tried to ride the tiger it killed him.

Ér tā de xiǎo érzǐ wàichū pèng shàng lǎohǔ, què yǐwéi shì mǎ xiǎng qù qí, jiéguǒ bèi lǎohǔ yǎo sǐ le.

而他的小儿子外出碰上了老虎，却以为是马，想去骑，结果被老虎咬死了。

The painter was very sad, so he burned the painting.

Huàjiā hěn shāngxīn, jiù bǎ huà shāo le.

画家很伤心，就把画烧了。

and then, the painter wrote a poem: Horse-tiger painting; horse-tiger painting;my eldest son shot a horse because of the picture,my second son was killed because of the picture; The picture was burned in the lobby. Hope other people will not make the same mistake like me.

之后，画家写了这么一首诗：马虎图，马虎图，长子依图射死马，次子依图喂了虎，草堂焚毁马虎图，奉劝诸君别学吾。

zhī hòu ，huà jiā xiě le zhè me yì shǒu shī ：mǎ hǔ tú ，mǎ hǔ tú ，zhǎng zǐ yī tú shè sǐ mǎ ，cì zǐ yī tú wèi le hǔ ，cǎo táng fén huǐ mǎ hǔ tú ，fèng quàn zhū jūn bié xué wú.

Key Learning Point (Preview)

马 (mǎ) horse

虎 (hǔ) tiger

马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhuhu) just so so

马虎 （mǎhu） careless

Example:

他是个马虎的人.Tā shì ge mǎhu de rén. He is a careless person.

Reference:
http://www.echineselearning.com/blog/chinese-idiom-it-is-neither-a-horse-nor-a-tiger-but-what-is-it