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口头禅 (kǒu tóu chán) — catchphrase; pet expression; a phrase someone habitually says

Definition

A habit phrase one person keeps saying — personal and informal. 口号 is a public slogan for a group or campaign, not one person's habit.

noun
catchphrasepet expressiona phrase someone habitually says

Examples

  • 口头禅“”。
    Tā de kǒu tóu chán shì "zhēn de jiǎ de".
    His catchphrase is 'Really?' or 'Is that true?'.
  • “”，口头禅？
    Nǐ zǒng shuō "suí biàn", zhè shì nǐ de kǒu tóu chán ma?
    You always say 'Whatever' — is that your pet phrase?
  • 口头禅，。
    Zhè ge kǒu tóu chán tīng qǐ lái yǒu diǎn cū lǔ, nǐ zuì hǎo gǎi gǎi.
    This stock phrase sounds a bit rude; you'd better change it.

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.

口头spoken
口kǒumouth头tóuside
偏正Modifier + head
禅chánZen saying

口头 (spoken) and 禅 (Zen saying) together mean a habitually repeated phrase.

Characters in this word

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

The form 口 looks like an open mouth.

Open 口 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

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 禪; 禅 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
單
單dān禪chán
Same sound today

The traditional form 禪 pairs 示, a meaning part, with 單, a sound part; the simplified 禅 is a later abbreviation, so its right side is not the old sound part.

Open 禅 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Language

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