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老顽固 (lǎo wán gù) — stubborn old person; diehard; fogy

Definition

noun
stubborn old persondiehardfogy
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 老顽固，。
    Tā zhēn shì gè lǎo wán gù, zěn me quàn dōu bù tīng.
    He's such a stubborn old person — no matter how you advise him, he won't listen.
  • 老顽固，。
    Yé ye shì gè lǎo wán gù, cóng lái bú yòng shǒu jī.
    Grandpa is an old diehard; he never uses a cell phone.
  • 老顽固，。
    Bié gēn nà ge lǎo wán gù zhēng lùn le, méi yòng de.
    Don't argue with that old fogy — it's pointless.

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.

老lǎoold
顽固stubborn
顽wánstubborn固gùfirm
联合Coordinate

老 (old), 顽 (stubborn), and 固 (firm) describe a stubborn old person.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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 頑; 顽 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán頑wán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 頑, 元 gave the sound and 頁 showed 'head'; the sense was 'a stubborn head'.

Open 顽 →

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
囗囗wéi
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ固gù
Same sound today

固 combines 囗, which relates to the meaning, with 古, which gives the sound.

Open 固 →
Appears in
Life Stages & AgePersonality & Traits

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