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例假 (lì jià) — official holiday, legal holiday; (euphemism) menstrual period

Definition

Two unrelated meanings share this word. As a holiday, it's a formal synonym for 法定假日 ('official/legal holiday'). As a polite euphemism, it means 'menstrual period' (来例假 = to have one's period).

noun
official holidaylegal holiday(euphemism) menstrual period
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • ，例假。
    Míng tiān shì guó qìng jié, quán guó fàng lì jià.
    Tomorrow is National Day, the whole country has an official holiday.
  • ，例假。
    Tā zhè jǐ tiān shēn tǐ bù shū fu, yīn wèi lái lì jià le.
    She's been feeling unwell these days because she's on her period.
  • ，例假。
    Gōng sī guī dìng, nǚ xìng yuán gōng zài lì jià qī jiān kě yǐ xiū xi yì tiān.
    The company policy allows female employees to take a day off during their menstrual period.

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.

例lìregular
假jiǎholiday

例 gives the regular or customary sense, and 假 gives the holiday.

Characters in this word

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
亻Written in full as人rén
Sound part声符shēngfú
列
列liè例lì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

例 is built from 亻, which relates to people, and 列, which gives the sound.

Open 例 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
叚
叚jiǎ假jiǎ
Same sound today

假 pairs 亻 (person) with 叚, which gives the sound jiǎ.

Open 假 →
Appears in
Festivals & Holidays

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