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杀身之祸 (shā shēn zhī huò) — fatal disaster; deadly misfortune

Definition

A formal, written expression for a fatal disaster that costs one their life — typically caused by offending powerful people or speaking carelessly. Most often used in historical or literary contexts.

noun
fatal disasterdeadly misfortune

Examples

  • ，杀身之祸。
    Tā yīn wèi bù xiǎo xīn shuō cuò le huà, rě lái le shā shēn zhī huò.
    He brought fatal disaster upon himself by accidentally saying the wrong thing.
  • ，杀身之祸。
    Zài nà zhǒng dì fāng, shāo wēi bú zhù yì jiù kě néng zhāo lái shā shēn zhī huò.
    In a place like that, a moment of carelessness could invite deadly misfortune.
  • ，杀身之祸。
    Gǔ shí hou, dé zuì quán guì wǎng wǎng huì yǒu shā shēn zhī huò.
    In ancient times, offending the powerful often led to fatal disaster.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 殺; 杀 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 殺 comes from an old drawing of a boar impaled in the head, with 人 and 又 added to show a person doing the killing; the simplified 杀 is a later abbreviation.

Open 杀 →

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

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

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 禍; 祸 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
示示shìsacrifice
Sound part声符shēngfú
咼
咼wāi禍huò
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The simplified 祸 is an abbreviation of traditional 禍, which pairs 示 (sacrifice) with 咼 to show pronunciation.

Open 祸 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesSafety & Danger

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