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不省人事 (bù xǐng rén shì) — to be unconscious; to be in a coma; (archaic) naive; unsophisticated

Definition

Literally 'not aware of human affairs.' Used chiefly for being unconscious or in a coma after injury or illness; the 'naive' sense is archaic and rarely used today.

idiom
to be unconsciousto be in a coma(archaic) naiveunsophisticated

Examples

  • 不省人事，。
    Tā chū le chē huò hòu yì zhí bù xǐng rén shì, yī shēng zhèng zài quán lì qiǎng jiù.
    He has been unconscious ever since the car accident; the doctors are doing their best to save him.
  • ，不省人事，。
    Xiǎo míng shuāi le yì jiāo, dāng chǎng bù xǐng rén shì, dà jiā gǎn jǐn sòng tā qù yī yuàn.
    Xiao Ming fell and lost consciousness on the spot; everyone rushed him to the hospital.
  • ，不省人事，。
    Tā gāng cóng xiāng xià lái chéng lǐ, duì hěn duō shì qing dōu bù xǐng rén shì, xiǎn de hěn tiān zhēn.
    He just came to the city from the countryside and is quite naive about many things, appearing very innocent.

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 →

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

The upper part of 省 is a changed form of 生, which gave the sound, while the lower 目 is an eye; the picture showed looking closely or inspecting.

Open 省 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
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