普普通通 (pǔ pǔ tōng tōng) — ordinary, mediocre, nothing special

Definition

adjective

ordinarymediocrenothing special

Examples

普普通通，。
Tā de shēng huó pǔ pǔ tōng tōng, méi yǒu shén me tè bié de dì fāng.
His life is ordinary, nothing special.
普普通通，。
Zhè jiā cān tīng de cài wèi dào pǔ pǔ tōng tōng, bú suàn hǎo chī.
The food at this restaurant is mediocre, not particularly tasty.
普普通通，。
Tā chuān le yí jiàn pǔ pǔ tōng tōng de yī fu, yì diǎn yě bù yǐn rén zhù yì.
She wore an ordinary dress, not attracting any attention at all.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

普普

普pǔgeneral普pǔgeneral

通通

通tōngcommon通tōngcommon

普 “general” and 通 “common” are repeated as 普普通通 for ordinary or mediocre.

Characters in this word

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

並日普

並並bìngside by side
日日rìsun

普 is made of 日 (sun) and 並 (side by side).

Open 普 →

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

並日普

並並bìngside by side
日日rìsun

普 is made of 日 (sun) and 並 (side by side).

Open 普 →

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

辶甬通

Meaning part形符xíngfú

辶Written in full as辵chuò

Sound part声符shēngfú

甬

甬yǒng通tōng

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

通 pairs 辶, a part associated with movement, with 甬, which gives the sound.

Open 通 →