明日黄花 (míng rì huáng huā) — something that is out of date; yesterday's news; obsolete

Definition

A literary idiom for things once timely but now outdated — news, fashions, ideas that have lost their relevance. Carries a slightly regretful tone, stronger than 'old-fashioned'.

idiom
something that is out of dateyesterday's newsobsolete

Examples

  • 明日黄花，。
    Zhè tiáo xīn wén yǐ jīng shì míng rì huáng huā le, méi rén zài guān zhù.
    This piece of news is already old news; no one cares anymore.
  • 明日黄花，。
    Tā tí chū de fāng àn zǎo yǐ chéng wéi míng rì huáng huā, wǒ men xū yào xīn de sī lù.
    The plan he proposed has long become outdated; we need new ideas.
  • ，明日黄花。
    Zhè zhǒng kuǎn shì qù nián hěn liú xíng, xiàn zài yǐ shì míng rì huáng huā le.
    This style was very popular last year, but now it's out of fashion.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

明日tomorrow
明míngnext日rìday
偏正Modifier + head
黄花yellow flower
黄huángyellow花huāflower
偏正Modifier + head

yellow flowers after tomorrow have already missed their season, so the image is something outdated.

Characters in this word

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

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 黃; 黄 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
田田tiánfield
Sound part声符shēngfú
炗
炗guāng黃huáng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 黃 pairs 田 (field) with 炗 (light), which gives the sound; the simplified 黄 is a shorthand and its parts are not historical components.

Open 黄 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà花
Same sound today

花 pairs 艹 (grass; plant) with 化, which gives the sound.

Open 花 →

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