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赖皮 (lài pí) — shameless, rascally, unreasonable; to cheat or renege (in a game)

Definition

赖皮 (lài pí) describes a person who is shameless and refuses to keep their word — especially a child (or childlike adult) who reneges on a promise or cheats in a game.

adjective
shamelessrascallyunreasonableto cheat or renege (in a game)

Examples

  • 赖皮，。
    Tā zhè ge rén tài lài pí le, shuō huà bú suàn shù.
    He is too shameless; he never keeps his word.
  • 赖皮，。
    Wán yóu xì de shí hou tā zǒng lài pí, méi rén yuàn yì gēn tā wán.
    When playing games, he always cheats; no one wants to play with him.
  • 赖皮，。
    Nǐ zhè yàng lài pí kě bù xíng, yào jiǎng dào lǐ.
    You can't be so unreasonable like this; you need to be reasonable.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

赖làiplay tricks
皮pícheeky

赖 means play tricks and 皮 means cheeky, so together they describe shameless, unreasonable behavior.

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 賴; 赖 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèicowry
Sound part声符shēngfú
剌
剌là賴lài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 賴 uses 貝 (a cowry) for profit and 剌 for the sound; the simplified 赖 is a shorthand.

Open 赖 →

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 →
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