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心肝 (xīn gān) — darling, sweetheart; conscience, moral sense; (colloquial) guts, nerve

Definition

心肝 (xīn gān) has two opposite flavors: an intimate term of endearment ('darling/sweetheart'), and in more formal/negative contexts the seat of one's moral sense or nerve. Context — '我的小' vs '没有' — disambiguates the affectionate vs moral reading.

noun
darlingsweetheartconsciencemoral sense(colloquial) gutsnerve

Examples

  • ：'心肝。'
    Mā ma duì hái zi shuō: ' nǐ shì wǒ de xīn gān. '
    Mother says to the child: 'You are my darling.'
  • 心肝，。
    Zhè ge rén méi yǒu xīn gān, lián fù mǔ dōu bù guǎn.
    This person has no conscience; he doesn't even care about his parents.
  • ，。
    Tā zhēn yǒu xīn gān, gǎn yí gè rén qù tàn xiǎn.
    He really has guts; he dares to go exploring alone.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

心xīnheart
肝gānliver

心 and 肝 name vital organs, together standing for what one loves most or one's inner feelings.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 心 comes from a drawing of a heart, now highly stylized.

Open 心 →

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròuflesh; body part
Sound part声符shēngfú
干
干gān肝gān
Same sound today

The left part ⺼ shows flesh or a body part, while the right part 干 gives the sound. Together they form 肝.

Open 肝 →
Appears in
Organs & AnatomyRomance & Marriage

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