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上头 (shàng tou) — to put one's hair up in a bun (as part of a traditional wedding ceremony); (of alcohol) to go to one's head, to make one slightly drunk

Definition

上头 has two unrelated senses: the traditional wedding-hair-bun ritual, and (of alcohol) going to one's head. Pick the sense by context — there's no shared meaning between them.

verb
to put one's hair up in a bun (as part of a traditional wedding ceremony)(of alcohol) to go to one's headto make one slightly drunk

Examples

  • ，。
    Jié hūn nà tiān, pó po gěi tā shàng le tóu.
    On her wedding day, her mother-in-law put her hair up.
  • ，上头。
    Zhè jiǔ jìn bù xiǎo, róng yì shàng tou.
    This liquor is strong; it easily goes to your head.
  • 。
    Wǒ cái hē le liǎng bēi jiù shàng le tóu.
    I only drank two glasses and already felt it going to my head.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

上shàngput up
头tóuhead

上头 puts something up at the 头, as in putting hair up or liquor going to the head.

Characters in this word

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

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
Alcohol & TobaccoHygiene & Grooming

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