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儿戏 (ér hū) — trifling matter; trivial affair (figurative)

Definition

Figurative 'child's play' — used only for something serious being treated as trivial. Always negative (e.g. 这可不是儿戏); never means actual play.

noun
trifling mattertrivial affair (figurative)

Examples

  • 儿戏，。
    Zhè jiàn shì kě bú shì ér hū, nǐ yào rèn zhēn duì dài.
    This matter is not child's play; you must take it seriously.
  • ，。
    Tā bǎ tóu zī dāng ér hū, zuì hòu kuī le hěn duō qián.
    He treated investment as child's play and ended up losing a lot of money.
  • ，儿戏。
    Lǐng dǎo jǐng gào dà jiā, ān quán gōng zuò bù néng shì wéi ér hū.
    The leader warned everyone that safety work cannot be regarded as trivial.

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.

儿érchild
戏xìplay

儿 means child, and 戏 means play; together they compare something to childish play.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 戲; 戏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēhalberd
Sound part声符shēngfú
䖒
䖒䖒戲xì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 戲, the shape combines 戈 (halberd) with 䖒, which gives the sound; the word originally meant an army's wing or flank. The simplified 戏 is a later shorthand, not the form described here.

Open 戏 →
Appears in
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