Meaning:

    “穿” here means “broken,” and “帮” refers to the top of shoes. Used in East and Central China’s dialects, the literal meaning of this term is that toes are exposed when the top of shoes is worn out. It’s a metaphorical expression referring to a lie or fraud seen through. It also refers to scenes in movies or TV shows that have obvious loopholes.

    Example:

    A: 你昨天请假是去医院了吗？

    Nǐ zuótiān qǐngjià shì qù yīyuàn le ma?

    Did you really go to see a doctor yesterday?

    B: 是啊，我昨天感冒很厉害，发烧了。

    Shì a, wǒ zuótiān gǎnmào hěn lìhài, fāshāo le。

    I did. I had a terrible cold and ran a fever yesterday.

    A: 可是小明说在网吧看见你打游戏。谎话穿帮了吧。

    Kěshì xiǎomíng shuō zài wǎngbā kànjiàn nǐ dǎ yóuxì。Huǎnghuà chuānbāng le ba。

    But Xiaoming said he saw you in a Net cafe playing computer games. Now your lies are seen through.