倒胃口 (dǎo wèi kǒu) — to spoil one's appetite (literal); to be off-pu… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

An informal fixed expression meaning to kill one's appetite — literally about food, but more often used figuratively to mean something is off-putting or disgusting.

verb

to spoil one's appetite (literal)to be off-puttingto disgust (figurative)

Examples

，倒胃口。
Zhè cài tài yóu nì le, zhēn ràng rén dǎo wèi kǒu.
This dish is too greasy — it really spoils one's appetite.
，。
Tā shuō huà zǒng shì nà me kè bó, zhēn dǎo rén wèi kǒu.
He always speaks so harshly — it's really off-putting.
，。
Kàn le nà bù diàn yǐng, wǒ dǎo jìn le wèi kǒu.
After watching that movie, I completely lost my appetite for it.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

胃口appetite

胃wèistomach口kǒumouth

联合Coordinate

倒 means spoil or turn off, and 胃口 means appetite; together they describe losing interest or disgust.

Characters in this word

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

亻到倒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

亻Written in full as人rén

Sound part声符shēngfú

到

到dào倒dào

Same sound today

倒 combines 亻 (person) with 到, which gives the sound.

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

胃 originally drew a stomach with food inside, first as concentric circles and later with a grain-like mark in the middle.

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Appears in

Emotions & Feelings Food (General)

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