辣手 (là shǒu) — ruthless, vicious (of a person or method); thorny, troublesome (of a problem or situation)

Definition

Read as a set phrase (like a chengyu): a person or method that is 'ruthless, vicious' (e.g. 辣手手段), or a problem that is 'thorny, hard to deal with' — usually appears before the noun it modifies, e.g. 辣手的问题.

adjective
ruthlessvicious (of a person or method)thornytroublesome (of a problem or situation)

Examples

  • 辣手，。
    Zhè ge àn zi hěn là shǒu, dà jiā dōu bù zhī dào zěn me chǔ lǐ.
    This case is very thorny; nobody knows how to handle it.
  • 辣手，。
    Tā shǒu duàn là shǒu, zài shāng chǎng shàng méi rén gǎn rě tā.
    His methods are ruthless; no one dares to mess with him in business.
  • 辣手，。
    Yù dào là shǒu de wèn tí, zuì hǎo xiān lěng jìng xià lái.
    When you encounter a thorny problem, it's best to calm down first.

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.

辣làharsh/hot
手shǒuhand/means

辣 (harsh/hot) and 手 (hand/means) combine to describe a ruthless method or troublesome situation.

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
辛辛xīn
Sound part声符shēngfú
束
剌là辣là
Same sound today

辣 is built from 辛, which carries the meaning, and 束, written in full as 剌, which carries the sound.

Open 辣 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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