杂碎 (zá suì) — chop suey; a dish of chopped entrails or stir-fry; (figurative) trifles; odds and ends; trivial matters

Definition

A noun with two unrelated senses: a stir-fry of chopped entrails (the food 'chop suey'), and a figurative use for trivial matters / odds and ends that clutter your work or life.

noun
chop sueya dish of chopped entrails or stir-fry(figurative) triflesodds and endstrivial matters
Easily confused

Examples

  • 杂碎，。
    Wǒ diǎn le yì pán zá suì, wèi dào bú cuò.
    I ordered a plate of chop suey, and it tasted good.
  • 杂碎。
    Zhè xiē zá suì de shì qing jiù bié tí le.
    Don't even mention these trivial matters.
  • 杂碎。
    Tā měi tiān chǔ lǐ hěn duō gōng zuò shàng de zá suì.
    He deals with a lot of odds and ends at work every day.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

杂zámixed
碎suìbroken

杂 means mixed and 碎 means broken, together describing miscellaneous broken pieces.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雜; 杂 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
集
集jí雜zá
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 雜 pairs 衣 (clothes) with 集 as a sound part, originally referring to mixed colours, perhaps in dyed clothes; the simplified 杂 is a later shorthand.

Open 杂 →

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
石石shístone
Sound part声符shēngfú
卒
卒zú碎suì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

碎 pairs 石 (stone) with 卒, which gives the sound; the stone part is tied to the sense of breaking or smashing.

Open 碎 →
Appears in
Food (General)Meat & Seafood

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