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闹鬼 (nào guǐ) — (of a place) to be haunted; (of a person) to play tricks on someone; to use underhand means

Definition

Two distinct senses: literally 'to be haunted' (a place), and figuratively 'to play tricks on someone / use underhanded means' (a person), as in 别跟我闹鬼 ('don't play tricks on me').

verb
(of a place) to be haunted(of a person) to play tricks on someoneto use underhand means

Examples

  • 闹鬼，。
    Tīng shuō nà dòng lǎo fáng zi nào guǐ, wǎn shàng méi rén gǎn qù.
    I heard that old house is haunted — no one dares go there at night.
  • ，。
    Zhè dòng lóu yǐ qián nào guò guǐ, hòu lái qǐng rén zuò le fǎ shì.
    This building was haunted before; later they hired someone to perform a ritual.
  • ，。
    Bié gēn wǒ nào guǐ, wǒ zhī dào nǐ zài sā huǎng.
    Don't play tricks on me — I know you're lying.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

闹nàomake trouble
鬼guǐghost

闹 'make trouble' with 鬼 'ghosts' describes a place where ghostly trouble happens.

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 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
Mythology & Folklore

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