打量 (dǎ liang) — to size someone up, to look someone up and down (assessing appearance or demeanor); to suppose, to reckon (used in spoken Chinese to express a guess or assumption)

Definition

打量 has two distinct uses: as a verb of visual assessment (sizing someone up, looking them over), and in spoken Chinese as 'I reckon / I suppose' — a casual guess, lighter than the written 假设 and less numerical than 估计.

verb
to size someone upto look someone up and down (assessing appearance or demeanor)to supposeto reckon (used in spoken Chinese to express a guess or assumption)

Examples

  • 打量，。
    Tā zhàn zài mén kǒu dǎ liang le wǒ yì yǎn, shén me yě méi shuō.
    She stood at the door and sized me up with one glance, then said nothing.
  • 打量，。
    Wǒ dǎ liang tā jīn tiān bú huì lái le, yīn wèi wài miàn xià zhe dà yǔ.
    I reckon he won't come today because it's pouring outside.
  • 打量，。
    Bié zǒng dǎ liang bié rén, nà yàng bú tài lǐ mào.
    Don't keep sizing people up – that's not very polite.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

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

打dǎdo
量liángmeasure

打 adds a general action sense, and 量 adds measuring or estimating.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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

  • 日日rìsun
  • 東東dōngbag; east

量 has 日 (sun) over 東 (bag; east). Some explanations suggest measuring under the sun or the sun rising in the east, but the exact origin is unclear.

Open 量 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Senses

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