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冷场 (lěng cháng) — awkward silence (in a performance, due to a missed cue or forgotten lines); awkward silence (in a meeting or social gathering, when no one speaks)

Definition

冷场 (lěng chǎng) literally 'cold scene' — an awkward silence on stage when an actor misses a cue, or in any gathering when conversation dies. It names the situation itself, not the act of going silent.

noun
awkward silence (in a performance, due to a missed cue or forgotten lines)awkward silence (in a meeting or social gathering, when no one speaks)

Examples

  • ，冷场。
    Yǎn yuán wàng le tái cí, tái shàng chū xiàn le lěng cháng.
    The actor forgot his lines, and an awkward silence appeared on stage.
  • 冷场，。
    Kāi huì shí chū xiàn le lěng cháng, méi yǒu rén fā yán.
    An awkward silence occurred during the meeting; no one spoke.
  • ，冷场。
    Tā jiǎng wán xiào hua hòu, quán chǎng yí piàn lěng cháng.
    After he finished his joke, there was an awkward silence throughout the room.

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.

冷lěngcold
场chǎngscene

Cold describes the scene, so 冷场 gives the image of a stalled, silent gathering.

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
冫Written in full as仌bīngice
Sound part声符shēngfú
令
令lìng冷lěng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

冷 uses 冫, the ice form, with 令 as a sound part, to mean cold as ice.

Open 冷 →

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 場; 场 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
昜
昜yáng場chǎng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 場 pairs 土 (earth) with 昜 as a sound part; the simplified 场 is a later abbreviation, so its parts do not have that historical role.

Open 场 →
Appears in
Emotions & Feelings

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