闹肚子 (nào dù zi) — (colloquial) to have diarrhea

Definition

Colloquial verb meaning 'to have diarrhea'. The literal image is 'make a fuss in the stomach' — a casual, everyday alternative to 拉肚子 (lā dùzi).

verb

(colloquial) to have diarrhea

闹肚子。
Tā zuì jìn zǒng shì nào dù zi.
He keeps having diarrhea recently.
。
Tā zuó tiān nào le yí cì dù zi.
He had diarrhea once yesterday.
闹肚子。
Chī huài de dōng xī jiù róng yì nào dù zi.
Eating spoiled food easily causes diarrhea.

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

闹nàostir up trouble

肚子belly

后缀Suffix

闹 suggests stirring up trouble, and 肚子 refers to the belly, together meaning to have stomach upset.

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.

鬥市鬧

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

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

⺼Written in full as肉ròu

Sound part声符shēngfú

土

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The left side ⺼ is 肉 (flesh), marking body parts like belly; the right side 土 gives the pronunciation.

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Appears in