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马后炮 (mǎ hòu pào) — belated advice; hindsight criticism; action taken too late

Definition

A chengyu for advice given after the event — useless hindsight. 事后 names the time ('after the fact') but is neutral; 马后炮 always criticizes the speaker for being too late.

noun
belated advicehindsight criticismaction taken too late

Examples

  • ？马后炮。
    Xiàn zài shuō zhè xiē yǒu shén me yòng? zhēn shì mǎ hòu pào.
    What's the use of saying this now? That's really an after-the-fact remark.
  • 马后炮！？
    Bié mǎ hòu pào le! nǐ zǎo zěn me bù shuō?
    Stop giving hindsight advice! Why didn't you say something earlier?
  • 马后炮，。
    Tā lǎo shì mǎ hòu pào, shì qián què yí jù huà dōu bù shuō.
    He is always giving belated advice, but doesn't say a word beforehand.

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.

马后after the horse
马mǎhorse后hòuafter
偏正Modifier + head
炮pàocannon

A cannon fired after the horse describes advice or action that comes too late.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 後; 后 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 後 showed 夊 (foot) bound by 幺 (thread), a foot caught by a rope and lagging behind; the simplified 后 is a later abbreviation, and 后 also has a different meaning.

Open 后 →

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
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo炮pào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

Open 炮 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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