抢镜头 (qiāng) — to steal the show; to seek the limelight; (literal) to jostle for a good camera angle or photo opportunity
Definition
A 离合词 (separable verb) that originally means reporters physically jostling for a good camera angle, now commonly used to mean 'steal the show / hog the spotlight'. The 镜 and 头 can separate (抢镜头 → 抢一次镜头) for aspect/quantifier insertion.
verb
to steal the showto seek the limelight(literal) to jostle for a good camera angle or photo opportunity
Examples
- 抢镜头，。Tā zài yàn huì shàng zǒng shì xiǎng bàn fǎ qiāng, shí zài ràng rén fǎn gǎn.He always tries to steal the show at banquets, which is really off-putting.
- ，，。Wèi le nà ge jìng tóu, tā qiǎng le yí cì jìng tóu, jié guǒ bèi dǎo yǎn mà le.He grabbed a camera shot once for that scene and ended up getting scolded by the director.
- 抢镜头，。Jì zhě men dōu zài nà lǐ qiāng, gēn běn méi rén tīng wǒ shuō huà.The reporters were all jostling for camera angles, and no one was listening to me at all.
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