居功自傲

Pronunciation: jū gōng zì ào Literal meaning: Arrogance from achievements

Origin & Usage

To sit on (居) one's merit (功) and be arrogant (自傲) about it. Chinese history supplies a standing example in Xu You, who crossed over to Cao Cao in the tenth month of 200, at the crisis of the Guandu campaign, and brought with him the intelligence that won it, and afterwards would not stop reminding everyone — including Cao Cao — that they owed him the victory. He was killed for it. The phrase names a specific sequence rather than ordinary vanity: the achievement is real, the claim is just, and the insistence on it destroys the credit anyway.

Examples

English: "His arrogance about his success made him unpopular among his peers."

Chinese: 他对自己的成就居功自傲，导致同事们都不喜欢他。