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开天窗 (kāi tiān chuāng) — to open a skylight; (figurative, journalism) to leave blank spaces in a publication as a protest against censorship or demands

Definition

Literally 'open a skylight' (the literal construction sense). Figuratively, it means deliberately leaving blank spaces in a newspaper or publication to protest censorship — a specific journalism term, not a general idiom.

verb
to open a skylight(figurative, journalism) to leave blank spaces in a publication as a protest against censorship or demands

Examples

  • 开天窗。
    Tā zài wū dǐng kāi le yí gè kāi tiān chuāng.
    He opened a skylight in the roof.
  • ，。
    Yóu yú shěn chá yuán yīn, jīn tiān de bào zhǐ kāi le tiān chuāng.
    Due to censorship, today's newspaper had a blank space (opened a skylight).
  • ，。
    Biān jí wèi le kàng yì, yǒu yì gěi bǎn miàn kāi tiān chuāng.
    The editor deliberately left a blank in the layout to protest.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

开kāiopen
天窗skylight
天tiānsky窗chuāngwindow
偏正Modifier + head

开 means to open and 天窗 is a window in the roof, so the phrase is to open a skylight.

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

  • 門門méndoor
  • 一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
  • 廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

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

窗 combines 穴 (hole) with 囱 (window), giving the sense of an opening used as a window.

Open 窗 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesMedia & News

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