九霄云外 (jiǔ xiāo yún wài) — beyond the highest heavens; completely forgotten or abandoned

Definition

A fixed idiom used almost only in 抛到/忘到九霄云外 to mean 'tossed / forgotten completely' (worries, promises, unpleasant things). It is a literary flourish, not a literal place.

noun
beyond the highest heavenscompletely forgotten or abandoned

Examples

  • 九霄云外。
    Tā bǎ suǒ yǒu fán nǎo dōu pāo dào jiǔ xiāo yún wài le.
    He threw all his worries to the winds.
  • 九霄云外。
    Nà xiē bù yú kuài de shì zǎo yǐ bèi dà jiā wàng dào jiǔ xiāo yún wài le.
    Those unpleasant matters have long been forgotten by everyone.
  • ，九霄云外。
    Tā yì máng qǐ lái, jiù bǎ yuē dìng pāo dào jiǔ xiāo yún wài le.
    As soon as he gets busy, he tosses his agreements to the winds.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape comes from a stylized hand bent at the wrist, with the lower-right hook showing the bend. Later, it was taken to show a tightened fist bumping up to ten, giving the number nine.

Open 九 →

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
雨雨yǔrain
Sound part声符shēngfú
肖
肖xiào霄xiāo
Same sound today

In 霄, the top part 雨 (rain) sits above the lower part 肖, which gives the sound.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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
卜卜bǔ
Sound part声符shēngfú
月
月yuè外wài
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

外 pairs 卜 with 月, a crescent moon; in its older form, the 卜 part had a horizontal bar extending outward, giving the sense of outside.

Open 外 →

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