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取笑 (qǔ xiào) — to tease; to make fun of

Definition

取笑 usually has a negative edge — teasing someone to hurt or embarrass them. 开玩笑 is light and playful; 嘲笑 and 嘲弄 are harsher mockery.

verb
to teaseto make fun of

Examples

  • 取笑。
    Tā men zǒng shì qǔ xiào xīn lái de tóng xué.
    They always make fun of the new classmates.
  • 取笑。
    Nǐ bú yào qǔ xiào tā de kǒu yīn.
    Don't make fun of her accent.
  • 取笑。
    Tā yīn wèi bèi qǔ xiào ér gǎn dào nán guò.
    He felt upset because he was teased.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

取qǔget
笑xiàolaughter

取 “get” and 笑 “laughter” combine as “get laughter,” hence tease.

Characters in this word

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

取 pairs 又 (hand) with 耳 (ear), showing a hand taking an ear, as in taking the ear of fallen prey.

Open 取 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Conflict & Agreement

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