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甜头 (tián tóu) — pleasant flavor, sweet taste (literal); benefit, advantage, enticement (figurative)

Definition

Literally 'sweet taste' (literal sense), but 甜头 is used almost entirely in its figurative sense: a small benefit or lure dangled to tempt someone — e.g. 给点甜头 ('dangle a carrot').

noun
pleasant flavorsweet taste (literal)benefitadvantageenticement (figurative)

Examples

  • 甜头。
    Zhè ge píng guǒ yǒu tián tóu.
    This apple has a sweet taste.
  • 甜头，。
    Tā gěi le wǒ men yì diǎn tián tóu, ràng wǒ men bāng tā bàn shì.
    He gave us a little benefit to get us to help him.
  • 甜头，。
    Bié bèi nà xiē xiǎo tián tóu piàn le, xiǎo xīn shàng gōu.
    Don't be fooled by those small inducements; be careful not to take the bait.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

甜tiánsweet
头tóusuffix

甜 gives sweetness, and 头 turns it into a thing: a pleasant taste or benefit.

Characters in this word

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

甜 puts 舌 (tongue) next to 甘 (sweet), showing sweetness as something the tongue perceives.

Open 甜 →

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 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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