In the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū 春秋时期,770-476 B), there lived in Chu a person named Shen Zhuliang, who addressed himself as "Lord Ye (叶公)". It's said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls had dragons painted on them. The beams and pillars and the doors and the windows were all carved with them. As a result, his love for dragons was spread out. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this Lord Ye, he was deeply moved. He decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him. You might think Lord Ye would have been very happy to see a real dragon. But, in fact, at the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could. From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings which look like dragons, not the real thing.
叶公好龙 (yè gōng hào lóng)
【翻 译】Professed love of what one really fears.
【释 义】比喻表面上爱好某事物,实际上并不真爱好。
【例 句】那人表面上喜欢蔬菜,其实一点也不喜欢,跟叶公好龙一个样。
【近义词】表里不一、言不由衷
【反义词】名副其实、名实相符