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情场 (qíng chǎng) — the realm of romantic relationships; the 'battlefield' of love

Definition

A metaphorical noun for the 'arena of love' — used to talk about one's romantic life as a whole, like 情场失意 ('unlucky in love') or 情场得意 ('successful in love'). Compare with 情场, 职场, 沙场: same 场 pattern meaning a domain or battlefield.

noun
the realm of romantic relationshipsthe 'battlefield' of love

Examples

  • 情场，。
    Tā zài qíng chǎng shàng yì zhí hěn shùn lì, dàn gōng zuò shàng bú tài háng.
    He has always been lucky in love, but not so much in work.
  • 情场，。
    Tā shì gè qíng chǎng gāo shǒu, tán guò hěn duō cì liàn ài.
    She is a master of romance; she's had many relationships.
  • 情场，。
    Zuì jìn tā qíng chǎng shī yì, xīn qíng hěn bù hǎo.
    Recently, he's been unlucky in love and feeling down.

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.

情qínglove
场chǎngarena

情 (love) and 场 (arena) combine to picture the realm of romantic relationships.

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
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng情qíng
Same sound today

情 shows 心 (heart) beside 青, which gives the sound. The heart part points to feelings and inner states.

Open 情 →

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
Romance & Marriage

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