吃豆腐chī dòu fǔ

Literal Definition: To take advantage of woman physically or verbally through actions bearing sexual conotations. Eg: through inappropriate flirting.

The common saying of "Eating Tofu" is related to the story of "Tofu Xishi".

詞語溯源How it came to be:

俗語“吃豆腐”與民間“豆腐西施”的戲稱有關。

"Xishi" was the name of a beautiful woman from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), who was presented by Fu Chai (the King of Wu) to Gou Jian ( the King of Yue). "Xishi" then became a popular term for referring to beautiful woman, which is how it continues to be used today.

“西施”是春秋時越王勾踐獻給吳王夫差的美女,後來把她的名字當做美女的代稱,沿用至今。

"Tofu Xishi" refers to Yang Ersao, a character from the novel "Guxiang", written by Lu Xun.

“豆腐西施”出自魯迅的"故鄉"裏的楊二嫂。

Yang is the owner of a tofu shop; she is young, beautiful and has flawless skin because she eats tofu all the time. She entices and flirts with men in order to sell more tofu. These men always go to her tofu shop under the guise that they are just going there to "eat tofu" in order to flirt with her. Over time, the idiom "eating tofu" came into use to refer to a man taking advantage of a woman.

楊二嫂開豆腐店,常食豆腐而細皮嫩肉,為招攬顧客賣弄風情,引得周圍男人以“吃豆腐”為名,到豆腐店與老板娘調情,動手動腳.於是,"吃豆腐"就成了男人占女人便宜的代名字.

如何使用How to use it in a sentence:

Be careful, this idiom has a softer meaning in contemporary China and is generally only used in casual contexts, making it unsuitable for use in formal conversation. It is commonly used by men in a humourous manner during potentially embarassing situations.
注意，這個俗語在現代漢語中使用時有語境要求，通常在非正式語境中使用。這句俗語大多用於在占到便宜時男性向女性幽默地道歉。

bú hǎo yì sī ，wǒ bú shì gù yì yào chī nǐ dòu fǔ
不好意思，我不是故意要吃你豆腐。
Sorry, I did not mean to eat your tofu.