肥水 (féi shuǐ) — benefits, advantages, or valuable resources (especially those one should keep within one's own family or group)

Definition

Refers to benefits, resources, or advantages one wants to keep in-house — almost always used in the saying 肥水不流外人田 ("don't let rich water flow to outsiders' fields"), meaning to keep gains within family or group.

noun
benefitsadvantagesor valuable resources (especially those one should keep within one's own family or group)

Examples

  • 肥水，。
    Tā men gōng sī de féi shuǐ hěn zú, suǒ yǐ fā zhǎn dé hěn kuài.
    Their company has abundant resources, so it is developing very quickly.
  • 肥水，。
    Yào jì zhù féi shuǐ bù liú wài rén tián, zhè ge xiàng mù bì xū yóu wǒ men zì jǐ lái zuò.
    Remember that benefits should not go to outsiders — we must do this project ourselves.
  • 肥水，。
    Jiā zú qǐ yè wǎng wǎng bǎ féi shuǐ liú gěi hòu dài, bú yuàn fēn xiǎng gěi wài rén.
    Family businesses often keep the advantageous resources for their descendants and are unwilling to share with outsiders.

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.

肥féifertile
水shuǐwater

肥 suggests rich or profitable and 水 is water, giving a metaphor for valuable resources.

Characters in this word

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

  • 肉肉ròumeat
  • 卪卪jiéperson kneeling

肥 is built from 肉, meat, and 卪, a kneeling person.

Open 肥 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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