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死鬼 (sǐ guǐ) — (term of address) playful scolding for a spouse or close person, like 'you devil' or 'you rascal'; dead ghost, spirit of the deceased

Definition

An affectionate scolding nickname for a close person (spouse, partner, friend) — like 'you rascal' or 'you devil'. The literal 'dead ghost' sense is only used in horror or ghost stories.

noun
(term of address) playful scolding for a spouse or close person, like 'you devil' or 'you rascal'dead ghostspirit of the deceased

Examples

  • 死鬼，！
    Nǐ zhè ge sǐ guǐ, yòu wàng le wǒ de shēng rì!
    You devil, you forgot my birthday again!
  • ，死鬼。
    Lǎo gōng, zhè sǐ guǐ yì tiān dào wǎn jiù zhī dào dǎ yóu xì.
    Honey, this rascal only knows how to play video games all day.
  • 死鬼，。
    Lǎo zhái zi lǐ jù shuō yǒu sǐ guǐ chū mò, méi rén gǎn zhù.
    It's said that dead ghosts haunt the old mansion — nobody dares to live there.

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.

死sǐdead
鬼guǐghost

"死" (dead) and "鬼" (ghost) combine to name a deceased spirit, later used as a playful scolding.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
歹歹dǎi
Sound part声符shēngfú
尸
尸shī死sǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

死 is built from 歹 and 尸: 歹 is the part tied to the meaning, and 尸 gives the sound.

Open 死 →

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

鬼 originally drew a kneeling figure with an ugly face, perhaps a mask; the small lower right dot is a later added tail.

Open 鬼 →
Appears in
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