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好戏 (hǎo xì) — a good play; an excellent performance; (sarcastic) a big scene; trouble; something interesting (often negative) about to happen

Definition

Literally 'a good show', 好戏 has two opposite uses: a genuinely wonderful performance, or (sarcastically) trouble brewing — 'just wait for the show'.

noun
a good playan excellent performance(sarcastic) a big scenetroublesomething interesting (often negative) about to happen
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 好戏。
    Dà jiā dōu lái kàn zhè chǎng hǎo xì.
    Everyone has come to watch this wonderful play.
  • ，好戏。
    Tā yào shi zhī dào le zhēn xiàng, nà jiù yǒu hǎo xì kàn le.
    If he finds out the truth, there'll be trouble.
  • ，好戏。
    Bié gāo xìng tài zǎo, hǎo xì hái zài hòu miàn ne.
    Don't celebrate too soon — the best (or worst) is yet to come.

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.

好hǎogood
戏xìplay

A good play: 好 describes quality and 戏 names a performance.

Characters in this word

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

好 joins 女 (woman) and 子 (child), understood as a woman with a child, linked to goodness or affection.

Open 好 →

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 戲; 戏 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戈戈gēhalberd
Sound part声符shēngfú
䖒
䖒䖒戲xì
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 戲, the shape combines 戈 (halberd) with 䖒, which gives the sound; the word originally meant an army's wing or flank. The simplified 戏 is a later shorthand, not the form described here.

Open 戏 →
Appears in
Film & Theater

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