赤膊上阵 (chì bó shàng zhèn) — (literal) to go into battle stripped to the waist; (figurative) to act openly and without disguise; to come out into the open

Definition

A 成语 meaning to go all-in openly, with no concealment. The image is literal — fighting stripped to the waist — but today it means acting without disguise or holding back.

idiom
(literal) to go into battle stripped to the waist(figurative) to act openly and without disguiseto come out into the open

Examples

  • ，赤膊上阵。
    Tā zhè cì zhí jiē gōng kāi le zì jǐ de jì huà, jiǎn zhí shì chì bó shàng zhèn.
    This time he directly made his plan public — it's like going into battle stripped to the waist.
  • ，，赤膊上阵。
    Zài tán pàn zhōng, wǒ men bù néng zài zhē zhē yǎn yǎn, zhǐ néng chì bó shàng zhèn.
    In the negotiations, we can't keep hiding things — we have to come out into the open.
  • ，赤膊上阵，。
    Miàn duì jìng zhēng duì shǒu de gōng jī, tā jué dìng chì bó shàng zhèn, zhèng miàn huí yìng.
    Facing the competitor's attack, he decided to act undisguisedly and respond head-on.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

赤 is a stylized form showing 大 (a person) and 火 (fire), depicting a person by a fire.

Open 赤 →

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
肉肉ròubody
Sound part声符shēngfú
尃
尃fū膊bó
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

膊 combines 肉, meaning body, with 尃, which gives the sound.

Open 膊 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

上 is drawn as a short horizontal line placed above a longer arc, marking a position above that arc.

Open 上 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 陣; 阵 is its simplified writing.

  • 東東dōngsack?
  • 東東dōng
  • 攴攴pū

In the traditional form 陣, a left-side part was added to a shortened 東; the older shape also used 攴. The simplified 阵 is a later shorthand.

Open 阵 →

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