抹脖子 (mǒ bó zi) — (colloquial) to cut one's own throat (in suicid… | tongtong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A colloquial, graphic verb meaning 'to cut one's own throat' (suicide). Tone is casual and direct — avoid in formal or polite writing.

verb

(colloquial) to cut one's own throat (in suicide)

Examples

，抹脖子。
Nà wèi lǎo rén xiǎng bù kāi, zuì hòu mǒ bó zi le.
That old man couldn't get past his troubles and ended up cutting his own throat.
，抹脖子。
Tā yì shí chōng dòng, jiù yòng dāo mǒ bó zi le.
In a moment of impulse, he cut his own throat with a knife.
。
Tīng shuō tā yīn wèi pò chǎn yǐ jīng mǒ guò liǎng cì bó zi le.
I heard he's already tried cutting his own throat twice because of bankruptcy.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

抹mǒcut/wipe

脖子neck

脖bóneck子zǐ

后缀Suffix

抹 means cut or wipe and 脖子 means neck; together they describe cutting the neck.

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.

扌末抹

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒu

Sound part声符shēngfú

末

末mò抹mǒ

Same sound today

The left part 扌 is the hand component 手, showing an action done with the hand; the right part 末 gives the pronunciation.

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh

Sound part声符shēngfú

孛

Same sound today

脖 combines ⺼, meaning flesh, with 孛, which gives the sound.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

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