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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

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liánhéCoordinate

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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