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闹翻 (nào fān) — to have a serious falling-out with someone; to quarrel to the point of breaking off relations; (colloquial) to fly into a rage

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning to have a serious falling-out with someone (闹翻了 = 'they split on bad terms'). It can also mean 'to fly into a rage' — the subject in this sense is a person, not a relationship.

verb
to have a serious falling-out with someoneto quarrel to the point of breaking off relations(colloquial) to fly into a rage

Examples

  • 闹翻。
    Tā men yīn wèi yí jiàn xiǎo shì nào fān le.
    They fell out over a small matter.
  • 闹翻，。
    Tā gēn lǎo bǎn nào fān le, xiàn zài zài zhǎo gōng zuò.
    He had a falling-out with his boss and is now looking for a job.
  • ，闹翻。
    Tīng dào zhè ge jié guǒ, tā dāng chǎng jiù nào fān le.
    Hearing this result, he flew into a rage on the spot.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
补充bǔchōngVerb + complement

An action followed by its result or direction.

闹nàoquarrel
翻fānturn over

闹 means quarrel or make trouble, and 翻 means turn over; 闹翻 is quarreling until a relationship breaks.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 鬧; 闹 is its simplified writing.

  • 鬥鬥dòuto fight
  • 市市shìmarket; town

The traditional form 鬧 combines 鬥 (to fight) and 市 (market; town) to mean noisy.

Open 闹 →

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
羽羽yǔwings
Sound part声符shēngfú
番
番fān翻fān
Same sound today

翻 pairs 羽 (wings) with 番, which gives the sound. The shape shows something fluttering.

Open 翻 →
Appears in
Conflict & Agreement

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