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不巧 (bù qiǎo) — unfortunately; as luck would have it (negatively)

Definition

Adverbial use meaning 'unfortunately / as luck would have it' — the timing or coincidence works out badly for the speaker. The earlier-encountered 倒霉 focuses on bad luck in general, while 不巧 highlights an unlucky coincidence at a specific moment.

adjective
unfortunatelyas luck would have it (negatively)

Examples

  • 不巧，。
    bù qiǎo, Wǒ gāng dào chē zhàn chē jiù kāi zǒu le.
    Unfortunately, the bus left just as I arrived at the station.
  • 不巧，。
    Nǐ lái de zhēn bù qiǎo, tā gāng chū mén.
    You came at just the wrong time — she just left.
  • 不巧，，。
    bù qiǎo, Wǒ nà tiān yǒu bié de shì, bù néng qù cān jiā jù huì le.
    Unfortunately, I had other things that day and couldn't go to the party.

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
巧qiǎoskillful/fortunate

不 means not, and 巧 means skillful or fortunate; together they describe an unfortunate coincidence.

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
工工gōng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo巧qiǎo
Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Open 巧 →
Appears in
Attitudes & Opinions

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