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乌七八糟 (wū qī bā zāo) — in a mess, disorderly; obscene, filthy

Definition

Strong, colloquial idiom meaning 'a total mess' — covers both physical disorder and morally filthy/obscene content. Very informal and emphatic; do not use in writing.

idiom
in a messdisorderlyobscenefilthy

Examples

  • 乌七八糟，。
    Tā de fáng jiān wū qī bā zāo, lián zǒu lù de dì fāng dōu méi yǒu.
    His room is a mess; there's no place to walk.
  • 乌七八糟，。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng nèi róng wū qī bā zāo, bú shì hé hái zi kàn.
    This movie's content is obscene and not suitable for children.
  • 乌七八糟，。
    Gōng sī guǎn lǐ wū qī bā zāo, xū yào chè dǐ gǎi gé.
    The company's management is in a mess and needs thorough reform.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 烏; 乌 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 烏 is a drawing of a bird. The simplified 乌 is a later abbreviation.

Open 乌 →

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Open 七 →

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

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

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
米米mǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
曹
曹cáo糟zāo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

糟 pairs 米 (rice) with 曹, which gives its sound; the rice side points to liquor made from fermented rice, originally meaning unfiltered.

Open 糟 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesGood & Bad

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