过街老鼠 (guò jiē lǎo shǔ) — (idiom) person hated by everyone; public enemy

Definition

A set chengyu: literally 'a rat crossing the street,' it pictures someone despised and attacked by everyone they meet. The full proverb form is 人人喊打的过街老鼠 ('a rat that everyone shouts to beat').

idiom
person hated by everyonepublic enemy

Examples

  • ，过街老鼠。
    Tā zuò le nà me duō huài shì, xiàn zài chéng le rén rén hǎn dǎ de guò jiē lǎo shǔ.
    He did so many bad things that now he's become a rat everyone wants to beat.
  • 过街老鼠，。
    Zhè ge piàn zi jiù xiàng yì zhī guò jiē lǎo shǔ, zǒu dào nǎ lǐ dōu bèi rén mà.
    This swindler is like a rat crossing the street — he gets cursed wherever he goes.
  • ，过街老鼠。
    Zài dà jiā yǎn lǐ, tā yǐ jīng wán quán biàn chéng le guò jiē lǎo shǔ.
    In everyone's eyes, he has completely turned into a person hated by all.

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.

过街crossing a street
过guòcross街jiēstreet
动宾Verb + object
老鼠rat
老lǎoold鼠shǔrat
前缀Prefix

The image of a 老鼠 that 过街, seen by all, expresses a hated public enemy.

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 過; 过 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
辵辵chuòwalk
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi過guò
Same sound today

The traditional form 過 pairs 辵 (walk) with 咼 as a sound component; the simplified 过 is a shorthand, and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 过 →

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
行行xíng
Sound part声符shēngfú
圭
圭guī街jiē
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

街 combines 行 and 圭: 行 is the meaning part, and 圭 is the sound part. Originally, 圭 drew a pair of ritual axes, not earth.

Open 街 →

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 →

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

The shape of 鼠 pictures a rat: the upper part looks like an open mouth with teeth, while the lower part shows two feet on the left and a tail on the right.

Open 鼠 →

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