碰头会 (pèng tóu huì) — brief meeting; quick coordination meeting; private meeting; tête-à-tête (especially of leaders)

Definition

A short, informal meeting for quick coordination between a small group of people — usually scheduled on short notice. Often used for leaders' brief one-on-one or small-group talks, in which sense it overlaps with the more general 会议.

noun
brief meetingquick coordination meetingprivate meetingtête-à-tête (especially of leaders)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 碰头会，。
    Wǒ men míng tiān xià wǔ yǒu yí gè pèng tóu huì, tǎo lùn yí xià jì huà.
    We have a brief meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss the plan.
  • 碰头会，。
    Liǎng wèi lǐng dǎo zài bàn gōng shì kāi le yí gè pèng tóu huì, tán le bàn xiǎo shí.
    The two leaders had a private meeting in the office for half an hour.
  • 碰头会，。
    Zhè ge pèng tóu huì hěn duǎn, zhǐ yòng le shí fēn zhōng.
    This brief meeting was very short, only took ten minutes.

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.

碰头bump heads
碰pèngbump头tóuhead
动宾Verb + object
会huìmeeting

碰头 means bump heads or meet, describing a 会 gathering.

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.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
石石shírock
Sound part声符shēngfú
並
並bìng碰pèng
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

碰 is built from 石 (rock) and 並 (bìng); 石 shows the meaning, and 並 shows the sound.

Open 碰 →

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 →

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 會; 会 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
合合héto meet
Sound part声符shēngfú
𡆧
𡆧𡆧會huì
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

Traditional 會 pairs 合 (to meet) with 𡆧, an original form for ironware, to give the sound. The simplified 会 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 会 →

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