放炮 (fàng bāo) — to fire a gun or cannon; to have a tire blowout; (figurative) to shoot off one's mouth, to talk boastfully or recklessly

Definition

Literal sense: fire a gun or cannon (also 'blowout' for tires). Figuratively, it means to talk big or shoot one's mouth off — boasting wildly without backing.

verb
to fire a gun or cannonto have a tire blowout(figurative) to shoot off one's mouthto talk boastfully or recklessly

Examples

  • 放炮。
    Tā zài shān shàng fàng bāo.
    He is firing a cannon on the mountain.
  • ，。
    Jīn tiān fàng le yí gè pào, shēng yīn hěn xiǎng.
    Today a shot was fired, and the sound was very loud.
  • 放炮，。
    Tā xǐ huan fàng bāo, dàn méi rén xiāng xìn tā de huà.
    He likes to shoot off his mouth, but nobody believes what he says.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

放fàngset off
炮pàocannon/firecracker

放 means to set off and 炮 means cannon or firecracker; together they mean to fire a cannon.

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
攵Written in full as攴pūhand, action
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng放fàng
Same sound today

放 uses 方 for its sound and 攵, a hand/action part, to mark an action of release.

Open 放 →

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
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo炮pào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

Open 炮 →

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