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不同寻常 (bù tóng xún cháng) — (idiom) out of the ordinary, unusual, remarkable

Definition

An idiom meaning 'unusual, out of the ordinary' — a stronger, more literary alternative to 奇怪, used for striking or remarkable cases rather than mildly odd ones.

idiom
out of the ordinaryunusualremarkable

Examples

  • 不同寻常。
    Tā jīng lì le yí cì bù tóng xún cháng de mào xiǎn.
    He went through an extraordinary adventure.
  • 不同寻常，。
    Jīn nián de tiān qì shí fēn bù tóng xún cháng, dōng tiān dōu guò le yí bàn hái méi xià xuě.
    This year's weather is very unusual — winter is half over and it hasn't snowed yet.
  • 不同寻常，。
    Tā de biǎo xiàn què shí bù tóng xún cháng, dà jiā dōu hěn jīng yà.
    His performance was truly out of the ordinary, and everyone was amazed.

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.

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

同 originally drew a pipe. It is the old form of 筒.

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

寻 is formed from 又 (hand) and 寸 (hand).

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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
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng常cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

常 pairs 巾, a cloth, with 尚 as a sound part; the form originally referred to a lower garment.

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Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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