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常事 (cháng shì) — ordinary matter; routine occurrence; common happening

Definition

常事 means something that happens regularly and so is no big deal — 'a routine matter, nothing unusual.' It highlights the speaker's sense that an event is ordinary or expected, often used to downplay its significance.

noun
ordinary matterroutine occurrencecommon happening

Examples

  • 常事。
    Zhè zhǒng shì shì cháng shì.
    This kind of thing is a common occurrence.
  • 常事。
    Chí dào duì tā lái shuō yǐ jīng shì cháng shì le.
    Being late is already routine for him.
  • 常事。
    Měi tiān zǎo qǐ duàn liàn shì tā de cháng shì.
    Exercising early every morning is his routine.

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.

常chángordinary
事shìmatter

The sense of 常 as ordinary combines with 事 as affairs to mean routine occurrences.

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
巾巾jīncloth
Sound part声符shēngfú
尚
尚shàng常cháng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

常 pairs 巾, a cloth, with 尚 as a sound part; the form originally referred to a lower garment.

Open 常 →

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

In 事, 又 is a hand and 中 is a flagpole with a drum; holding a flag in hand depicts performing a job.

Open 事 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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