抽风 (chōu fēng) — (verb) to ventilate, to let in air; (verb, medical/colloquial) to have a convulsion, to go crazy

Definition

抽风 (chōufēng) is a colloquial verb with two distinct senses: literally 'to ventilate' (a building/room), and informally 'to have a convulsion' or 'to freak out / act crazy'. The second sense is slang for erratic, unhinged behavior.

verb
to ventilateto let in air(verb, medical/colloquial) to have a convulsionto go crazy

Examples

  • 抽风，。
    Dǎ kāi chuāng hu chōu fēng, ràng xīn xiān kōng qì jìn lái.
    Open the windows to ventilate and let in fresh air.
  • ，。
    Tā fā shāo tài gāo, tū rán chōu le yí cì fēng.
    His fever was so high that he suddenly had a convulsion.
  • 抽风，。
    Bié chōu fēng le, kuài zuò xià lái hǎo hǎo shuō huà.
    Stop freaking out, sit down and talk properly.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

抽chōudraw
风fēngwind

抽 refers to drawing or twitching, and 风 refers to wind; together they evoke moving air or a sudden spasm.

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
由
由yóu抽chōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left part 扌 is the hand form, written in full as 手, and the right part 由 provides the sound.

Open 抽 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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