七老八十 (qī lǎo bā shí) — (colloquial) very old; in one's late seventies or eighties

Definition

A colloquial idiom meaning 'very old, in one's late seventies or eighties' — said of people, not things. It's more vivid and everyday than the neutral phrase 年纪大.

idiom
(colloquial) very oldin one's late seventies or eighties

Examples

  • 七老八十，。
    Tā dōu qī lǎo bā shí le, hái měi tiān qù gōng yuán duàn liàn.
    He's already in his late seventies, yet he still goes to the park every day to exercise.
  • 七老八十，。
    Bié kàn tā qī lǎo bā shí, nǎo zi kě qīng chǔ dé hěn.
    Don't mind that he's very old — his mind is still sharp.
  • 七老八十，。
    Nǎi nai suī rán qī lǎo bā shí, dàn shēn tǐ hái hěn yìng lǎng.
    Although Grandma is in her eighties, she's still quite robust.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Open 七 →

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.

八 shows two bent lines, indicating the original meaning 'to divide'; it was later used for 'eight' because the words sounded alike.

Open 八 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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