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猜拳 (cāi quán) — to play the finger-guessing drinking game (morra)

Definition

A drinking-game verb: two players throw out a fist (or hand) simultaneously while calling a number, trying to match. It is a separable verb — object goes between 猜 and 拳.

verb
to play the finger-guessing drinking game (morra)

Examples

  • 猜拳。
    Wǒ men yì qǐ lái cāi quán ba.
    Let's play the finger-guessing game together.
  • ，。
    Tā men cāi le sān quán, jié guǒ tā shū le.
    They played three rounds of the game, and he ended up losing.
  • ，猜拳。
    Měi cì chī fàn de shí hou, tā men dōu yào cāi quán.
    Every time they eat, they play the finger-guessing game.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

猜cāiguess
拳quánfist

猜 (guess) and 拳 (fist) describe the game of guessing how many fingers are shown.

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
犭Written in full as犬quǎn
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng猜cāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

猜 pairs 犭, the dog radical (full form 犬), with 青 as the sound part.

Open 猜 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
龹
龹龹拳quán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拳 pairs 手 (hand) with 龹 for sound. The hand part shows that the meaning is a form of hand, such as a fist.

Open 拳 →
Appears in
Games & Puzzles

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