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司空见惯 (sī kōng jiàn guàn) — to be accustomed to something; to regard something as commonplace

Definition

A chengyu meaning something is so common that no one is surprised by it. Stronger than just 'common' — it implies people have become used to (and perhaps indifferent to) it.

phrase
to be accustomed to somethingto regard something as commonplace

Examples

  • ，司空见惯。
    Duì yú dà chéng shì de gāo fáng jià, dāng dì rén yǐ jīng sī kōng jiàn guàn le.
    Locals have become accustomed to the high housing prices in big cities.
  • 司空见惯，。
    Zhè zhǒng bù gōng píng de xiàn xiàng zài jiù shè huì sī kōng jiàn guàn, dàn jīn tiān bù néng róng rěn.
    This kind of unfairness was commonplace in old society, but today it cannot be tolerated.
  • ，司空见惯。
    Tā měi tiān jiā bān dào shēn yè, tóng shì men zǎo yǐ sī kōng jiàn guàn le.
    He works overtime until late every night; his colleagues have long been used to it.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The evidence is inconclusive: one suggestion sees 司 as a mouth giving orders beside a mark of authority, another reads that mark as a hand, and another sees it as a reversed older form.

Open 司 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 見; 见 is its simplified writing.

  • 目目mùeye
  • 卩卩jiékneeling person

The traditional form 見 pairs 目 (eye) with 卩 (kneeling person), showing a kneeling figure with a large eye for a head. The simplified 见 is a later shorthand.

Open 见 →

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 慣; 惯 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
忄Written in full as心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
貫
貫guàn慣guàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 慣 shows 忄 (heart) beside 貫, which gives the sound; the simplified 惯 is a shorthand. Habit is what one does by heart.

Open 惯 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Idioms & Set Phrases

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