炒鱿鱼 (chǎo yóu yú) — (literally) to stir-fry squid; (colloquial) to… | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A colloquial idiom for 'firing someone,' from the image of a rolled-up squid unrolling in the pan — like a worker leaving with their belongings. Only used for dismissing employees; not for general firing like 解雇.

verb

(literally) to stir-fry squid(colloquial) to fire someoneto sack

Examples

炒鱿鱼。
Jīn tiān wǎn fàn wǒ dǎ suàn chǎo yóu yú.
I plan to stir-fry squid for dinner tonight.
炒鱿鱼。
Tā yīn wèi chí dào bèi chǎo yóu yú le.
He was fired because of being late.
。
Lǎo bǎn chǎo le tā de yóu yú.
The boss fired him.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

炒chǎostir-fry

鱿鱼

联绵Bound pair

炒鱿鱼, literally stir-frying squid, gives a colloquial image of being sent away.

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.

火少炒

Meaning part形符xíngfú

Sound part声符shēngfú

少

少shǎo炒chǎo

Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 火 (fire) as the meaning part with 少 as the sound part.

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 魷; 鱿 is its simplified writing.

魚尤魷

Meaning part形符xíngfú

魚魚yúfish

Sound part声符shēngfú

尤

Same sound today

The traditional form 魷 uses 魚 to show it is a fish and 尤 to give its sound; the simplified 鱿 is a later shorthand.

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 魚; 鱼 is its simplified writing.

For 鱼, the traditional form 魚 is a picture of a fish.

Appears in

Idioms & Set Phrases Workplace & Office

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