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瓜葛 (guā gé) — connection, involvement (especially in a negative or complicated context)

Definition

瓜葛 (guāgé) means a shady or tangled connection between people or events — almost always used negatively. Think "entanglement" or "complication", not a neutral link.

noun
connectioninvolvement (especially in a negative or complicated context)

Examples

  • 瓜葛。
    Nà jiàn shì gēn tā yǒu guā gé.
    That matter is related to him.
  • 瓜葛。
    Wǒ bù xī wàng hé nà xiē rén yǒu shén me guā gé.
    I don't want any involvement with those people.
  • 瓜葛。
    Zhè liǎng gè àn jiàn sì hū yǒu mǒu zhǒng guā gé.
    These two cases seem to have some kind of connection.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

瓜guāmelon
葛gěkudzu

瓜 and 葛 are plants whose vines tangle, suggesting a complicated connection.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 瓜 is drawn from a melon hanging from its vines, which matches its meaning.

Open 瓜 →

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
艹Written in full as艸cǎo
Sound part声符shēngfú
曷
曷hé葛gé
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

葛 uses 艹 to show it is a plant and 曷 for its sound.

Open 葛 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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