一气 (yī qì) — do something in a single stretch, with a negative connotation of carelessness or excess

Definition

一气 (yīqì) marks doing an action 'in one go' or 'in a fit', with a negative tone: recklessly, without stopping to think. Often paired with verbs like 胡闹, 乱写, 乱画 to criticize carelessness or excess.

adverb
do something in a single stretch, with a negative connotation of carelessness or excess

Examples

  • 一气，。
    Tā zài qiáng shàng luàn huà yī qì, bǎ qiáng nòng zāng le.
    He scribbled all over the wall in one go and made it dirty.
  • 一气，。
    Bié hú nào yī qì le, kuài tíng xià lái.
    Stop fooling around like that — stop it right now.
  • 一气，。
    Tā luàn xiě yī qì, zuò yè gēn běn méi fǎ kàn.
    He dashed it off in one go, and the homework was completely unreadable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

一yīone
气qìbreath

一 and 气 suggest doing something in one breath, without pause.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 氣; 气 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
气
气qì氣qì
Same sound today

The traditional form 氣 pairs 米 (rice) with 气, which supplies the sound; the simplified 气 is a later abbreviation.

Open 气 →

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