打哈哈 (dǎ hā hā) — to joke around, to be flippant; to laugh something off, to handle insincerely or perfunctorily

Definition

打哈哈 is an informal, colloquial verb meaning to joke around or laugh something off without being serious. It's separable: 打一会儿哈哈, 别打哈哈了.

verb
to joke aroundto be flippantto laugh something off, to handle insincerely or perfunctorily

Examples

  • 打哈哈，。
    Tā zǒng ài gēn bié rén dǎ hā hā, méi gè zhèng jīng.
    He always likes to joke around with others and is never serious.
  • 打哈哈，！
    Bié zài zhè r dǎ hā hā le, kuài shuō zhèng shì!
    Stop joking around here and get to the point!
  • ，。
    Tā gēn wǒ dǎ le yí huì r hā ha, shén me yě méi shuō.
    He laughed it off with me for a while and said nothing.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

打dǎmake
哈哈laughter
哈hā哈hā
拟声Onomatopoeia

打 means make, and 哈哈 is laughter; together they mean to joke or laugh something off.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
合
合hé哈hā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哈 uses 口 (mouth) to show a mouth-related idea, and 合 as a sound part. The shape of 合 may look like two open mouths, but that is likely by chance.

Open 哈 →

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
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
合
合hé哈hā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

哈 uses 口 (mouth) to show a mouth-related idea, and 合 as a sound part. The shape of 合 may look like two open mouths, but that is likely by chance.

Open 哈 →

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