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小鞋 (xiǎo xié) — (idiom) to deliberately make things difficult for someone (especially a superior toward a subordinate)

Definition

Refers to 'giving someone hard-to-see trouble' as a superior punishing a subordinate. Almost always used in the set phrase 穿小鞋 (chuān xiǎoxié), meaning to be quietly made to suffer.

idiom
to deliberately make things difficult for someone (especially a superior toward a subordinate)

Examples

  • ，小鞋。
    Tā yīn wèi tí yì jiàn, bèi lǐng dǎo chuān le xiǎo xié.
    Because he offered feedback, his boss made trouble for him.
  • 小鞋，。
    Tā hài pà bèi chuān xiǎo xié, suǒ yǐ bù gǎn biǎo dá bù tóng yì jiàn.
    She's afraid of being given a hard time, so she doesn't dare express dissent.
  • 小鞋。
    Nà ge dān wèi de guǎn lǐ zhě jīng cháng gěi xià shǔ chuān xiǎo xié.
    The manager of that unit often makes trouble for subordinates.

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.

小xiǎosmall
鞋xiéshoe

小 “small” + 鞋 “shoe” evokes forcing someone into ill-fitting shoes, hence trouble.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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
革革géleather
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī鞋
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

鞋 puts 革 (leather) beside 圭 to show leather shoes; 圭 gives the sound and originally drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 鞋 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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