令人捧腹 (lìng rén pěng fù) — to set people roaring with laughter; to be hilarious

Definition

Literally 'makes one hold one's belly', a vivid set phrase for something so funny you clutch your stomach laughing. Used in writing and speech to praise comedy that lands.

idiom
to set people roaring with laughterto be hilarious

Examples

  • 令人捧腹，。
    Tā de xiào hua lìng rén pěng fù, lián lǎo shī dōu rěn bú zhù xiào le.
    His joke was hilarious; even the teacher couldn't help laughing.
  • ，令人捧腹。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng qíng jié huāng dàn, zhēn shì lìng rén pěng fù.
    This movie has an absurd plot; it's truly side-splitting.
  • 令人捧腹，。
    Xiàng sheng yǎn yuán de biǎo yǎn lìng rén pěng fù, guān zhòng zhǎng shēng bú duàn.
    The crosstalk performers' act was hilarious, and the audience clapped nonstop.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

  • 亼亼jí
  • 卩卩jié

In 令, the upper 亼 is an open mouth and the lower 卩 is a kneeling person, together showing someone giving orders.

Open 令 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 捧 →

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
肉肉ròumeat; flesh
Sound part声符shēngfú
复
复fù腹⁰fù
Same sound today

The left part 肉, meaning flesh, shows this is a body part, and the right part 复 gives the sound.

Open 腹 →

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