掉价 (diào jià) — (of prices) to drop, to go down in price; (colloquial) to lower oneself (socially), to lose face

Definition

A verb with two distinct senses: literal '(prices) drop', and colloquial 'to lose face / lower oneself socially' (e.g., doing something beneath one's dignity). The second sense is HSK 7 and far less common than plain 降价.

verb
(of prices) to dropto go down in price(colloquial) to lower oneself (socially)to lose face
Easily confused

Examples

  • 掉价。
    Zuì jìn hěn duō shāng pǐn dōu diào jià le.
    Many products have dropped in price recently.
  • ，。
    Zhè jiàn yī fu diào le yí cì jià, xiàn zài hěn pián yi.
    This piece of clothing dropped in price once, now it's very cheap.
  • ，掉价。
    Wèi le qián zuò zhè zhǒng shì, tài diào jià le.
    Doing this kind of thing for money is really beneath oneself.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

掉diàofall
价jiàprice

掉 means to fall or drop, and 价 is price, so the idea is a price going down.

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
卓
卓zhuó掉diào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

掉 is built from 扌 (a hand) and 卓, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 掉 →

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
人人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
介
介jiè价jiè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

价 pairs 人 (person) with 介, which gives the sound.

Open 价 →

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