Levantine Arabic: to drag somebody's name through the mud

[WannaBFluent]

I was wondering how do you say "to drag somebody's name through the mud" in its figurative sense of saying or doing things that damage someone's reputation or image, often by spreading rumors or false information about them.

I have no idea how to say it in Levantine Arabic, but might be a literal translation would work.
So, my guess is: شحط حدا على وحل but without much conviction.

 

[Mahaodeh]

The most common word in used in this case is فضح, but also common are جرّس وشهّر وهتك. There are of course nuances. You also don’t need to specifically say “his name” as it’s implied.

However, if you are looking for a similar idiom, I’d go with وسّخ اسمه or خلّى اسمه في الطين or حطّ اسمه في الطين.

شحطه بالطين doesn’t seem to work in my mind, it’s more like مسح فيه الأرض, which implies berating him intensely and this doesn’t give the same meaning as dragging his name in the mud.

 

[wriight]

Is there a good idiomatic expression that uses the word صيت?

 

[elroy]

I suggest وسّخ/شوّه سمعته.

@wriight, this uses سمعة, not صيت, but they’re basically synonyms so maybe this is close enough for you?

 

[sandhurst53]

سَوَّد وِجهُه perhaps?

I'm unsure about the connotative valences of this expression vs. the others proposed.

 

[elroy]

That's different. That means "he made him look bad (in front of other people)." Of course, that can overlap with sullying his reputation, but the two expressions have distinct meanings.

 

[sandhurst53]

Thanks! Not entirely sure what nuance you’re getting at—can you “make X look bad” without “damaging X’s reputation,” or vice versa? Maybe the latter implies more enduring negative social consequences than the former?

I looked up “sawwad” in Elihay’s Olive Tree Dictionary and found the following example:
هالولد بسوّد وجه أبوه
He coincidentally translates this phrase as “that boy’s ruining his father’s good name”—quite close to the expression WannaBFluent was looking to translate. Not a native speaker and don’t have a solid recollection of times I’ve heard “sawwad wijh” used, but thought this coincidence was worth mentioning.

 

[elroy]

can you “make X look bad” without “damaging X’s reputation,”

Yes. If I donated $20 and everyone else donated $100 and you tell everyone that I only donated $20, then you made me look bad but you didn't ruin my reputation.

He coincidentally translates this phrase as “that boy’s ruining his father’s good name”

For me, the expression itself does not mean that. As I said earlier, the two situations may overlap, but the two expressions are distinct.