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像话 (xiàng huà) — to be proper, to be reasonable (used in negative or rhetorical questions)

Definition

像话 is almost always used in the negative or in a rhetorical question to scold 'how could that be proper / reasonable?' — it expresses outrage, not a neutral judgment.

verb
to be properto be reasonable (used in negative or rhetorical questions)

Examples

  • ！
    Nǐ zhè yàng zuò tài bú xiàng huà le!
    It's really outrageous for you to do this!
  • ？像话？
    Tā zěn me néng shuō chū zhè zhǒng huà lái? zhè xiàng huà ma?
    How could he say something like that? Is that proper?
  • ，。
    Hái zi men zài tú shū guǎn lǐ dà shēng shuō huà, zhēn bú xiàng huà.
    The children are talking loudly in the library — it's really not proper.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

像xiàngresemble
话huàspeech

像 means resemble and 话 means speech, so the sense is proper or reasonable.

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rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
象
象xiàng像
Same sound today

像 uses 亻, the side form of 人 (person), with 象 giving the sound.

Open 像 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
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