白搭 (bái dā) — to be in vain; no use; useless (colloquial) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A colloquial, blunt 'no use / pointless' — stronger than 没用的 and used as a flat verdict on a wasted effort. Often follows a question to dismiss it.

verb

to be in vainno useuseless (colloquial)

Examples

，白搭。
Wǒ xué le sān tiān, jié guǒ quán bái dā le.
I studied for three days, but it was all in vain.
？白搭！。
Nǐ gēn tā jiǎng dào lǐ? bái dā! tā gēn běn bù tīng.
Try reasoning with him? Useless! He won't listen at all.
，白搭。
Zhè diǎn nǔ lì gēn běn bú gòu, quán shì bái dā.
This little effort is nowhere near enough — completely worthless.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

白báiin vain

白 (in vain) + 搭 (use): using it gets nothing, so it is no good.

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

扌荅搭

Meaning part形符xíngfú

扌Written in full as手shǒuhand

Sound part声符shēngfú

荅

荅dá搭dā

Same sound today

搭 is built from 扌, a hand, and 荅, which gives the sound. The hand part points to actions done with the hand.

Appears in

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