一锅粥 (yī guō yù) — (literal) a pot of congee; (figurative) a mess;… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A set phrase: literally 'a pot of congee', used figuratively to mean total chaos or a mess — usually follows 变成/成了.

noun

(literal) a pot of congee(figurative) a messchaos

Measure word · 锅

Examples

一锅粥。
Huì yì shì lǐ luàn chéng le yī guō yù.
The meeting room became a total mess.
，一锅粥。
Méi yǒu tí qián jì huà, zhěng gè huó dòng jiǎn zhí yī guō yù.
Without advance planning, the whole event was simply a mess.
，。
Tā cí zhí hòu, gōng sī guǎn lǐ biàn chéng le yì guō zhōu.
After he resigned, the company's management turned into chaos.

Origin

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.

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 鍋; 锅 is its simplified writing.

金咼鍋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

金金jīnmetal

Sound part声符shēngfú

咼

咼wāi鍋guō

Same sound today

In the traditional form 鍋, 金 marks metal and 咼 provides the sound; the simplified 锅 is a later shorthand.

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Appears in

Abstract Concepts Food (General)Idioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.