调皮鬼 (tiáo pí guǐ) — mischievous child

Definition

调皮鬼 is a playful, affectionate label for a 'mischievous kid' — calling someone this usually teases rather than criticizes. The 鬼 ending adds a folksy, endearing tone (like calling someone a 'little rascal').

noun
mischievous child
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 调皮鬼。
    Nà ge tiáo pí guǐ yòu bǎ huā píng dǎ suì le.
    That mischievous child broke the vase again.
  • 调皮鬼，。
    Wǒ men bān yǒu gè tiáo pí guǐ, zǒng ài zhuō nòng tóng xué.
    There's a mischievous child in our class who always likes to tease classmates.
  • 调皮鬼，。
    Xiǎo míng de mèi mei shì gè tiáo pí guǐ, dà jiā dōu ná tā méi bàn fǎ.
    Xiao Ming's little sister is a mischievous child; everyone finds her hard to handle.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

调皮mischievous
调tiáotease皮pímischievous
联合Side by side
鬼guǐperson

调 (tease) and 皮 (mischievous) describe playful behavior, and 鬼 gives a person.

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

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

皮 shows a hand pulling fur off an animal pelt, with the pelt drawn at the upper left.

Open 皮 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →

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