糊涂虫 (hú tu chóng) — blunderer; bungler; muddlehead

Definition

A colloquial insult for a person who keeps making stupid mistakes — literally "muddle-headed bug." Used only for people, in casual or teasing speech, never for serious writing.

noun
blundererbunglermuddlehead
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 糊涂虫，。
    Tā zhēn shì yí gè hú tu chóng, shén me shì qing dōu zuò bù hǎo.
    He's such a blunderer; he can't do anything right.
  • 糊涂虫，。
    Bié dāng hú tu chóng le, rèn zhēn kàn kàn shuō míng shū zài dòng shǒu.
    Stop being a muddlehead; read the manual carefully before you start.
  • 糊涂虫，。
    Dà jiā dōu shuō tā shì gè hú tu chóng, wǒ bú zhè me jué de.
    Everyone says he's a bungler, but I don't think so.

Origin

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.

糊涂muddled
糊húmuddled涂túmuddled
联合Side by side
虫chóngbug

糊涂 gives the muddled quality, while 虫 is used metaphorically for a person, yielding muddlehead.

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
胡
胡hú糊hú
Same sound today

糊 pairs 米 (rice) with 胡 (hú), which gives the sound. The 米 part relates to the meaning.

Open 糊 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú涂tú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

涂 has 氵 on the left, a form of 水 meaning water, and 余 on the right for the sound.

Open 涂 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 蟲; 虫 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 蟲 is the one the reference discusses; 虫 is also a traditional character on its own.

Open 虫 →

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