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手头紧 (shǒu tóu jǐn) — to be short of money; to be hard up; to be stingy; to be tightfisted

Definition

A colloquial set phrase for being short of cash (手头 = on hand, 紧 = tight). It also covers a person's stingy nature, so context decides whether it means 'hard up' or 'tightfisted'.

verb
to be short of moneyto be hard upto be stingyto be tightfisted

Examples

  • 手头紧，。
    Zuì jìn shǒu tóu jǐn, bù néng chū qù lǚ yóu le.
    I'm short of money lately, so I can't go traveling.
  • ，。
    Tā zhè ge rén shǒu tóu jǐn, cóng lái bù kěn qǐng kè.
    He's a stingy person, never willing to treat anyone.
  • 手头紧，。
    Děng wǒ bù shǒu tóu jǐn le, zài mǎi nà jiàn dà yī.
    I'll buy that coat when I'm not so short of money.

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.

手头hand side
手shǒuhand头tóuside
偏正Modifier + head
紧jǐntight

手头 refers to the hand side, meaning available cash, and 紧 means tight, so it expresses being short of money.

Characters in this word

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

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 緊; 紧 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
臤
臤qiān緊jǐn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 緊 pairs 糸 (thread) with 臤 as a sound part; the simplified 紧 is a later shorthand.

Open 紧 →
Appears in
Money & Currency

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