TongTong
Sign in

满城风雨 (mǎn chéng fēng yǔ) — (idiom) talk of the town; a widely-discussed scandal or event

Definition

A chengyu meaning that a scandal or news has spread everywhere and become the talk of the town — the city is "full of wind and rain," i.e., uproar everywhere.

idiom
talk of the towna widely-discussed scandal or event

Examples

  • 满城风雨。
    Zhè jiàn shì yǐ jīng nào dé mǎn chéng fēng yǔ le.
    This matter has already become the talk of the town.
  • 满城风雨。
    Nà ge chǒu wén hěn kuài jiù zài wǎng shàng mǎn chéng fēng yǔ.
    That scandal quickly became the talk of the town online.
  • 满城风雨。
    Tā men lí hūn de xiāo xi chuán dé mǎn chéng fēng yǔ.
    The news of their divorce spread and became the talk of the town.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

满城whole city
满mǎnfull城chéngcity
偏正Modifier + head
风雨wind and rain
风fēngwind雨yǔrain
联合Coordinate

满城 means the whole city, and 风雨 means wind and rain; together they picture wind and rain everywhere, hence widespread talk.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 滿; 满 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㒼
㒼㒼滿mǎn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 滿 pairs 水, showing water, with 㒼, giving the sound. The simplified 满 is a later shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 满 →

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
土土tǔsoil
Sound part声符shēngfú
成
成chéng城chéng
Same sound today

城 pairs 土 (soil) with 成 as a sound part, because city walls were originally made of stamped earth.

Open 城 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 风 →

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

The shape 雨 is an old picture of a cloud with rain drops falling from it; the top line was added later.

Open 雨 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.