Pinyin:
Lǎoshǔ guò jiē, rén rén hǎn dǎ
Meaning:
形容危害人的人或事人人都痛恨。
a rat crossing the street is chased by all; said of a person or thing hated by everyone
Character breakdown and explanation:
老鼠：rat; mouse
过：cross
街：street
人人：everybody
喊：shout
打：hit; strike
Rats survive by stealing human food; they sometimes get over-populated and can spread infectious disease. As a result, rats are seen as harmful to many people. When people see a rat running in the open, most will want to kill it and thus we have the common saying “老鼠过街，人人喊打” to express the hatred of someone or something that’s harmful to the general public. Another version of this folk adage is “过街老鼠，人人喊打” . The phrase “过街（的）老鼠” can also be used independently to indicate people or things that are harmful to the public.
Example sentences:
居高不下的房价正在遭遇“过街老鼠，人人喊打”的局面。
Jū gāo bú xià de fang jià zhèngzài zāoyù "guò jiē lǎoshǔ, rén rén hǎn dǎ "de júmiàn.
The rising of the housing prices is confronted by public outrage.
这件惊天丑闻让他瞬间从人人仰慕的成功人士变成人人喊打的“过街老鼠”。
Zhè jiàn jīngtiān chǒuwén ràng tā shùnjiān cóng rén rén yǎngmù de chénggōng rénshì biàn chéng rén rén hǎn dǎ de “guò jiē lǎoshǔ”.
This scandal has changed him from a prominent successful person to public enemy number one.
