冰冻三尺 (bīng dòng sān chě) — (idiom) a situation or problem is the result of long-term accumulation; Rome wasn't built in a day

Definition

A chengyu literally meaning 'ice frozen three feet thick' — used to say a serious situation took a long time to develop, like 'Rome wasn't built in a day.' Often paired in full as 冰冻三尺，非一日之寒.

idiom
a situation or problem is the result of long-term accumulationRome wasn't built in a day

Examples

  • 冰冻三尺，，。
    bīng dòng sān chě, Fēi yí rì zhī hán, tā men zhī jiān de wù huì yǐ jīng jī lěi hěn duō nián le.
    A thick layer of ice cannot be frozen in one day — the misunderstanding between them has been building up for many years.
  • ，冰冻三尺，。
    Bié zháo jí, bīng dòng sān chě, gōng sī rú jīn de kùn jìng bú shì yì tiān zào chéng de.
    Don't worry — the company's current trouble wasn't created in a single day.
  • 冰冻三尺，。
    Zhè ge tuán duì de mò qì bīng dòng sān chě, dà jiā jīng guò cháng qī hé zuò cái dá dào xiàn zài de gāo dù.
    This team's rapport is deep — they reached their current level only through long-term collaboration.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

冰冻ice freezes
冰bīngice冻dòngfreeze
主谓Subject + predicate
三尺three chi
三sānthree尺chǐchi
偏正Modifier + head

冰冻 is the freezing of ice, and 三尺 states how deep it goes, so the whole pictures long accumulation.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
冫
仌bīng冰bīng
Same sound today

冰 adds 水 (water) to 冫, the short form of 仌; 冫 gives the sound, and 水 shows the meaning.

Open 冰 →

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 凍; 冻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
冫Written in full as仌bīng
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng凍dòng
Same sound today

The traditional form 凍 pairs 冫 (ice) with 東 for the sound; the simplified 冻 is a later shorthand.

Open 冻 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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

The shape is thought to picture a hand with the thumb and middle finger spread apart, like a natural ruler for measuring length.

Open 尺 →

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