Definition
开天窗 literally means 'to open a skylight,' but it has two important figurative uses. In journalism and publishing, it refers to deliberately leaving blank spaces in a newspaper or magazine as a silent protest against censorship — a historically significant practice in China. A much rarer medical meaning describes the erosion of the nose bone due to advanced syphilis. This is a separable verb-object phrase (离合词), so you can insert words between the syllables, e.g. 开了一个天窗 ('opened a skylight').
v.o.
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 wūdǐng kāi le yí gè kāi tiān chuāng.He opened a skylight in the roof.
- ，。Yóuyú shěnchá yuányīn, jīntiān de bàozhǐ kāi le tiān chuāng.Due to censorship, today's newspaper had a blank space (opened a skylight).
- ，。Biānjí wèile kàngyì, yǒuyì gěi bǎnmiàn kāi tiān chuāng.The editor deliberately left a blank in the layout to protest.
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