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万事通 (wàn shì tōng) — know-it-all (someone who pretends to know everything)

Definition

A 'know-it-all' — but the tone is negative: someone who pretends to know everything and acts smug about it, not just a well-informed person.

noun
know-it-all (someone who pretends to know everything)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 万事通，。
    Bié dāng wàn shì tōng le, méi rén xǐ huan zì yǐ wéi shì de rén.
    Don't be a know-it-all; no one likes people who think they know everything.
  • 万事通，。
    Tā zǒng shì yí fù wàn shì tōng de yàng zi, qí shí shén me dōu bù dǒng.
    He always acts like a know-it-all, but actually doesn't understand anything.
  • 万事通，。
    Dà jiā dōu jué de tā shì gè wàn shì tōng, bú yuàn yì hé tā tǎo lùn wèn tí.
    Everyone thinks he's a know-it-all and doesn't want to discuss issues with him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

万事all matters
万wànall事shìmatters
偏正Modifier + head
通tōngknown

万事 (all matters) and 通 (known) build the idea of someone who knows everything.

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 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuò
Sound part声符shēngfú
甬
甬yǒng通tōng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

Open 通 →
Appears in
Personality & Traits

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