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象话 (xiàng huà) — reasonable, proper (mostly used in the negative: 不像话)

Definition

Used almost only in the negative 不像话 to call behavior unreasonable or outrageous. Acts as an adjective predicate — pair it with 太 / 真 / 很, not with 很 positive.

adjective
reasonableproper (mostly used in the negative: 不像话)

Examples

  • 象话！
    Nǐ zhè me shuō tài bú xiàng huà le!
    What you said is so unreasonable!
  • ，象话。
    Tā zuò chū zhè zhǒng shì, zhēn bú xiàng huà.
    He did such a thing; it's really improper.
  • 象话。
    Dà jiā dōu jué de tā de zuò fǎ hěn bú xiàng huà.
    Everyone thinks his approach is very inappropriate.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

象xiàngresemble
话huàspeech

象 means to resemble and 话 means speech, so it describes something like proper speech.

Characters in this word

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

象 is drawn as an elephant, with a long trunk, a head, and a big body.

Open 象 →

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 話; 话 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
言言yánword
Sound part声符shēngfú
𠯑
𠯑𠯑話huà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 話, 言 relates to words and 𠯑 gives the sound; the simplified 话 is a shorthand, so its right side is not that sound part.

Open 话 →
Appears in
Good & Bad

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