"Mu deng kou dai" (eyes staring blankly, mouth agape) is a subject-predicate idiom whose literal meaning is to stare fixedly with one's eyes and be unable to speak with one's mouth open. It describes a person being stunned by a strong fright, shock, or unexpected stimulus, temporarily losing the ability to react. This idiom comes from Cao Xueqin's "Dream of the Red Chamber" in the Qing Dynasty, where characters often display this expression when encountering sudden situations or hearing astonishing news. In modern Chinese, it is mostly used to describe the expression and state of extreme surprise, fear, or disbelief when people face unexpected things. Its usage scenarios are very broad, such as seeing an amazing performance, hearing bizarre news, or encountering a sudden change. In terms of emotional coloring, it is neutral with a slight negative connotation, usually carrying an exaggerated and vivid descriptive effect, emphasizing a person's loss of composure and being caught off guard. It is similar in meaning to "cheng mu jie she" (staring dumbfounded) and "dai ruo mu ji" (dumb as a wooden chicken), but "mu deng kou dai" focuses more on the blankness of facial expression and has a stronger visual impact.
📝 Example
1. The magician suddenly pulled a live rabbit out of his hat, and the audience was left gaping, unable to recover for quite a while. (Describes the audience being extremely astonished and stunned by the unexpected performance.)
2. Hearing the sudden news that the company had gone bankrupt, he stood dumbfounded in the office, unaware that the documents in his hands had scattered all over the floor. (Describes him being so shocked by the sudden bad news that he lost all reaction.)