火上加油 (huǒ shàng jiā yóu) — to add fuel to the fire; to make a bad situation worse

Definition

A chengyu meaning to worsen a bad or heated situation by one's words or actions — literally 'add oil to the fire'. The action itself is the focus, not the speaker's intent.

idiom
to add fuel to the fireto make a bad situation worse

Examples

  • ，火上加油。
    Tā men liǎ běn lái jiù yǒu máo dùn, nǐ cóng zhōng tiǎo bō jiǎn zhí shì huǒ shàng jiā yóu.
    They already had conflicts, and you're stirring things up — that's just adding fuel to the fire.
  • ，火上加油。
    Wēi jī shí kè yīng gāi jiǎn shǎo kāi zhī, jì xù dài kuǎn wú yì yú huǒ shàng jiā yóu.
    In times of crisis you should cut spending; continuing to take out loans is no different from adding fuel to the fire.
  • ，，火上加油。
    Tā yǐ jīng hěn shēng qì le, nǐ bié zài zhǐ zé tā, xiǎo xīn huǒ shàng jiā yóu.
    He's already very angry. Don't scold him anymore, or you might add fuel to the fire.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

火 is a simple drawing of a fire, with flames shown rising upward.

Open 火 →

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

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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

加 pairs 力 and 口. In one explanation 力 is strength and 口 is the mouth, meaning exaggeration; in another 力 is plowing effort and 口 is breath or exclamation, meaning extra effort.

Open 加 →

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
由
由yóu油yóu
Same sound today

油 is built from 氵, a water part, and 由, which supplies the sound.

Open 油 →

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