江河日下 (jiāng hé rì xià) — (idiom) to go from bad to worse; to decline steadily

Definition

Idiom for a steady, day-by-day decline — used for situations, organizations, or health getting worse over time. More literary and continuous than a simple '变差'.

idiom
to go from bad to worseto decline steadily

Examples

  • 江河日下，。
    Gōng sī de jīng yíng zhuàng kuàng jiāng hé rì xià, yǐ jīng dào le pò chǎn de biān yuán.
    The company's operating situation is going from bad to worse, and it's already on the brink of bankruptcy.
  • ，江河日下，。
    Zì cóng huàn le lǐng dǎo, dān wèi de fēng qì jiāng hé rì xià, dà jiā dōu hěn dān xīn.
    Since the leadership changed, the workplace atmosphere has been declining day by day, and everyone is very worried.
  • 江河日下，。
    Tā de jiàn kāng zhuàng kuàng jiāng hé rì xià, yī shēng jiàn yì tā mǎ shàng zhù yuàn.
    His health condition is getting worse and worse, and the doctor recommends he be hospitalized immediately.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

江河rivers
江jiāngriver河hériver
联合Side by side
日下daily descend
日rìdaily下xiàdescend
偏正Modifier + head

江河 are the rivers and 日下 is daily descending, so it pictures waters sinking lower day by day.

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng江jiāng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

江 puts 氵, the water side, beside 工, which gives a sound; the water part points to its river meaning.

Open 江 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
何
何hé河hé
Same sound today

河 pairs 水 (water) with 何, which gives the sound. The 水 part marks it as a word for a river.

Open 河 →

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

日 originally drew the sun. A mark was added inside to tell it apart from similar square shapes.

Open 日 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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