洋相 (yáng xiāng) — social blunder, faux pas

Definition

Used almost only in the set phrase 出洋相, meaning to make a social blunder or embarrassing faux pas. It always follows 出, never stands alone.

noun

social blunderfaux pas

。
Tā zài yàn huì shàng chū le gè dà yáng xiāng.
He made a big social blunder at the banquet.
。
Bù dǒng dāng dì xí sú hěn róng yì chū yáng xiāng.
Not knowing local customs makes it easy to make a social blunder.
，洋相。
Tā jiǎng le yí gè xiào hua, jié guǒ chū le yáng xiāng.
She told a joke, but it ended up being a faux pas.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

相xiāngappearance

洋 suggests foreign and 相 suggests appearance; together they picture an appearance that causes embarrassment.

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.

氵羊洋

Meaning part形符xíngfú

氵Written in full as水shuǐwater

Sound part声符shēngfú

羊

Same sound today

洋 pairs 氵, the water part, with 羊 to give its sound.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

木目相

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”