老调 (lǎo diào) — hackneyed theme, platitude

Definition

老调 (lǎo diào) is a written/literary term for an old, overused tune — a hackneyed theme or cliché. It typically appears in fixed expressions like 老调重弹 ('rehashing the same old tune').

noun
hackneyed themeplatitude

Examples

  • 老调，。
    Tā shuō de nà xiē huà dōu shì lǎo diào, méi shén me xīn yì.
    Everything he said was just a platitude, nothing new.
  • ，。
    Zhè piān lùn wén bú guò shì lǎo diào chóng tán, méi yǒu rèn hé xīn guān diǎn.
    This paper is just rehashing old clichés without any new ideas.
  • 老调。
    Bié zǒng ná nà xiē lǎo diào lái hù nòng tīng zhòng le.
    Stop fooling the audience with those old platitudes.

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.

老lǎoold
调tiáotune

老 means old and 调 means tune, so the word pictures an old tune worn out by use.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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 調; 调 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yán
Sound part声符shēngfú
周
周zhōu調tiáo
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 調 pairs 言 (speech) with 周, which shows how it was pronounced. The simplified 调 is a later shorthand.

Open 调 →

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