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开玩笑 (kāi wán xiào) — to joke, to make fun of, to play a prank

Definition

Phrase meaning 'to joke / make a joke' (an action). Unlike 笑话 (the joke itself as a noun), 开玩笑 is the act of joking. Pairs with 别 to forbid it.

phrase
to joketo make fun ofto play a prank

Examples

  • ！
    Bié kāi zhè zhǒng wán xiào!
    Don't make this kind of joke!
  • 开玩笑。
    Tā xǐ huan gēn péng you kāi wán xiào.
    He likes to joke with friends.
  • 开玩笑，？
    Nǐ shì zài kāi wán xiào, hái shì rèn zhēn de?
    Are you joking, or are you serious?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāimake
玩笑joke
玩wánplay笑xiàolaugh
联合Coordinate

“开” means to make and “玩笑” means a joke, giving the sense of making a joke.

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
玉玉yùjade
Sound part声符shēngfú
元
元yuán玩wán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

玩 pairs 玉 (jade) with 元 (yuán) for sound. The jade part points to toys made of jade.

Open 玩 →

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
犬犬quǎndog
Sound part声符shēngfú
艸
艸cǎo笑xiào
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

An early 笑 used the grass 艸 for the sound and the dog 犬 for the meaning; later it was written with 竹 and 夭.

Open 笑 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 4Communication & Speech2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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