拆台 (chāi tái) — to undercut, to sabotage (someone's plans or public image)

Definition

拆台 (chāi tái) means to deliberately undermine or sabotage someone in public, making them lose face. It's hostile, intentional social sabotage, not just ordinary criticism.

verb
to undercutto sabotage (someone's plans or public image)

Examples

  • ，。
    Tā zài huì shàng gù yì chāi wǒ de tái, ràng wǒ hěn nán kān.
    He deliberately undercut me at the meeting and made me very embarrassed.
  • ，。
    Nǐ bié zǒng chāi duì yǒu de tái, dà jiā yào tuán jié.
    Don't always sabotage your teammates; we need to stick together.
  • ，。
    Nà cì huó dòng tā chāi le tái, jié guǒ gǎo zá le.
    He sabotaged that event, and it ended up a mess.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

拆chāipull down
台táistage

拆 means pull down and 台 means stage, together suggesting sabotage.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
斥
斥chì拆chāi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拆 uses 手 to show an action done by hand, with 斥 giving the sound. In an earlier related form, the hand part replaced an earth part to stress the action by hand.

Open 拆 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 臺; 台 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 台 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (窗台, 电视台) it is 臺; in others (台灯, 台球) (台风) it is 檯 or 台 or 颱.

The traditional form 臺 is the 喬 + 室 form; earlier versions combined a sound part with 室, and an old reading saw it as a watch tower.

Open 台 →

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