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胡编 (hú biān) — to recklessly concoct; to fabricate (stories, excuses, etc.)

Definition

胡编 (hú biān) is a colloquial verb meaning to recklessly make up stories or excuses with no basis. Pairs naturally with the particle 出来 (胡编出来) to stress producing something fabricated.

verb
to recklessly concoctto fabricate (stories, excuses, etc.)

Examples

  • 胡编，。
    Tā xǐ huan hú biān gù shi, méi rén xiāng xìn tā de huà.
    He likes to fabricate stories; nobody believes his words.
  • 胡编，。
    Zhè xiē xīn wén míng xiǎn shì hú biān chū lái de, gēn běn méi yǒu gēn jù.
    These news articles were clearly concocted; they have no basis at all.
  • 胡编，？
    Bié hú biān le, nǐ dào dǐ xiǎng shuō shén me?
    Stop fabricating, what exactly are you trying to say?

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.

胡húrecklessly
编biānfabricate

胡 gives recklessness, and 编 means to weave or fabricate.

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
⺼Written in full as肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
古
古gǔ胡hú
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

胡 combines 古, which points to its sound, with ⺼ (肉), meaning meat or flesh.

Open 胡 →

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 編; 编 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìthread
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn編biān
Same sound today

The traditional form 編 pairs 糸 (thread), for knitting a book together, with 扁 as the sound part; the simplified 编 is only a shorthand.

Open 编 →
Appears in
Communication & Speech

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