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客套 (kè tào) — polite formulas; civilities; exchange of greetings (as a social courtesy)

Definition

客套 (kètào) refers to polite, formulaic words exchanged as social ritual — pleasant but often insincere. It usually modifies 话 (客套话) and pairs with 文化 / 重视, distinct from 客气的 everyday politeness in manner.

noun
polite formulascivilitiesexchange of greetings (as a social courtesy)

Examples

  • 。
    Jiàn miàn shí xiān shuō jǐ jù kè tào huà zài tán zhèng shì.
    When meeting, first say a few polite words before discussing business.
  • 客套，。
    Zhōng guó rén zhī jiān yě hěn zhòng shì kè tào, dàn bìng bú dài biǎo guān xì bù qīn mì.
    Chinese people also value civilities among themselves, but it doesn't mean the relationship isn't close.
  • ，。
    Tā shuō de kè tào huà suī rán hǎo tīng, dàn dōu shì xíng shì.
    The polite words he said, though pleasant to hear, were all formalities.

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.

客kèpolite
套tàoset phrase

客 conveys politeness, while 套 denotes set phrases; together they point to courteous formulas used in social exchanges.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

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

  • 大大dàlarge
  • 長長chánglong

套 is made from 大 (large) and 長 (long), originally for something long, with some reference to hair; it later came to mean a cover or a linked group.

Open 套 →
Appears in
Greetings & Politeness

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