此地无银三百两

此地无银三百两

Literally means:

no 300 taels of silver buried here

Actually means:

clumsy denial resulting in a self-exposure

According to an ancient joke, a person buried 300 taels of silver underground. In case it was stolen, he put up a sign, "No 300 taels of silver here! Wang Er, his neighbor, became aware that silver was buried underneath after seeing these words, and then stole it. In order not to be suspected, he wrote, "The silver was not stolen by his neighbor Wang Er" beside the line "No 300 taels of silver here!"

This phrase is used to refer to a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure, or a very poor lie which reveals the truth. It is often used when exposing sb's lie.

这个地方没有三百两银子。传说古代有一个笑话：一个人把三百两银子埋在地下，他害怕别人把银子偷走，就在上面写了“此地无银三百两几个字。邻居王二看见这几个字后，知道地下有银子，就把银子偷走了。为了不人知道自己偷了银子，他也在上面写了几个字“隔壁王二不曾偷”。

讥讽行为愚蠢，本想掩盖，反而暴露了真相。常用在揭穿谎言时使用。