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坏主意 (huài zhǔ yì) — bad idea

Definition

noun
bad idea
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 坏主意。
    Nǐ zhè zhēn shì gè huài zhǔ yì.
    You really have a bad idea.
  • ，坏主意。
    Bié tīng tā de, tā jìn chū huài zhǔ yì.
    Don't listen to him; he always comes up with bad ideas.
  • 坏主意。
    Zhè ge huài zhǔ yì chà diǎn hài le wǒ men.
    This bad idea almost ruined us.

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.

坏huàibad
主意idea
主zhǔ意yì

坏 (bad) describes 主意 (idea), giving 'bad idea'.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 壞; 坏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
土土tǔearth
Sound part声符shēngfú
褱
褱huái壞huài
Same sound today

For the traditional form 壞, 土 (earth) is the meaning part and 褱 supplies the sound; earth is used because something that rots eventually becomes earth. This is about 壞, not the simplified 坏.

Open 坏 →

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

The old forms that became 主 showed a lamp or torch with a flame at the top; other forms showed wood on fire or a spirit tablet.

Open 主 →

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 意 →
Appears in
Thinking & Cognition

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