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不像话 (bù xiàng huà) — outrageous; unreasonable; shocking (used to criticize unacceptable behavior or speech)

Definition

A spoken, emotional ‘outrageous / shocking!’ — used to scold someone’s behavior or words, stronger than 无理 (‘unreasonable’) and more everyday than 离谱儿. Often followed by 了 or 吧.

adjective
outrageousunreasonableshocking (used to criticize unacceptable behavior or speech)

Examples

  • ，不像话。
    Tā jū rán zài tú shū guǎn dà shēng dǎ diàn huà, zhēn shì tài bù xiàng huà le.
    He actually made a loud phone call in the library — that's really outrageous.
  • 不像话。
    Zhè zhǒng làng fèi shí wù de xíng wéi jiǎn zhí bù xiàng huà.
    This kind of food-wasting behavior is simply outrageous.
  • 不像话？
    Nǐ zhè yàng shuō yě tài bù xiàng huà le ba?
    Isn't it outrageous for you to say that?

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.

不bùnot
像话be reasonable
像xiàngresemble话huàspeech
动宾Verb + object

不 ('not') with 像话 ('resembling proper speech') gives 'not sensible', hence outrageous.

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 →

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
象
象xiàng像
Same sound today

像 uses 亻, the side form of 人 (person), with 象 giving the sound.

Open 像 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Good & Bad

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