保驾 (bǎo jià) — to escort or protect (an important person; also used jocularly)

Definition

保驾 literally means 'escort the imperial carriage' and now means to protect or back up an important person. It is almost always used in the set phrase 保驾护航 or the jocular 给…保驾. The serious sense is rare outside political/military writing.

verb
to escort or protect (an important person; also used jocularly)

Examples

  • 保驾。
    Zhè cì wǒ lái gěi nǐ bǎo jià.
    This time I'll come to escort you.
  • ，保驾。
    Bié dān xīn, yǒu wǒ zài gěi nǐ bǎo jià.
    Don't worry, I'm here to protect you.
  • 。
    Shàng ge yuè wǒ tì tā bǎo le yí cì jià.
    Last month I escorted him once.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

保bǎoprotect
驾jiàcarriage

保 means protect, and 驾 refers to the emperor's carriage, together describing guarding an important person.

Characters in this word

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

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 駕; 驾 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎ
Sound part声符shēngfú
加
加jiā駕jià
Same sound today

In the traditional form 駕, 馬 relates to a horse, and 加 gives the sound; this story is about 駕, not the simplified 驾.

Open 驾 →

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