掰掰 (bāi bāi) — bye-bye (loanword) (Tw)

Definition

A casual, playful 'bye-bye' — reduplicated and child-friendly, common in Taiwan Mandarin. Use with friends, family, or kids rather than in formal settings.

verb

bye-bye (loanword) (Tw)

Examples

掰掰，！
bāi bāi, Míng tiān jiàn!
Bye-bye, see you tomorrow!
掰掰，！
bāi bāi, Xià cì zài lái wán!
Bye-bye, come play again next time!
掰掰，！
bāi bāi, Wǒ huí jiā le!
Bye-bye, I'm going home!

Origin

Single-morpheme word

构词法gòucífǎ

音译yīnyìTransliteration

The characters spell the sound of a foreign word; their individual meanings play no part.

掰bāi

Here 掰掰 spells the foreign sound of “bye-bye”; the characters 掰 do not carry their usual meanings.

Sound-only characters

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

手分手掰

掰 puts 分 between two 手, showing something being pulled apart between the hands.

Open 掰 →