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不亦乐乎 (bù yì lè hū) — (archaic) isn't that also a joy? — quotation from Confucius; (adverbial, used after 得) extremely, awfully, like crazy

Definition

A set phrase from Confucius, used humorously after 得 to mean 'like crazy, extremely'. It is more literary and playful than the plain 很, and stronger/colloquial than 不行 in this 得-complement pattern.

phrase
(archaic) isn't that also a joy? — quotation from Confucius(adverbial, used after 得) extremelyawfullylike crazy

Examples

  • 不亦乐乎。
    Tā máng dé bù yì lè hū.
    He is extremely busy.
  • 不亦乐乎。
    Xiǎo péng yǒu men xiào dé bù yì lè hū.
    The kids laughed like crazy.
  • 不亦乐乎，。
    Wǒ men chī dé bù yì lè hū, dōu zhàn bù qǐ lái le.
    We ate so much we couldn't stand up.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

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

亦 originally drew a person with marks at the armpits. It was later borrowed for its sound to write 亦 'also', so the picture is unrelated to that meaning.

Open 亦 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 樂; 乐 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 樂, 絲 (string) with 木 (wood) shows strings on a piece of wood, a musical instrument; the simplified 乐 is a later shorthand.

Open 乐 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 丂丂kǎobranch

The old 乎 paired an element for wind or air with 丂, a branch used as a sound part, and was the original form of the word for 'to call; to cry'.

Open 乎 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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