轻车熟路 (qīng chē shú lù) — a routine task for someone experienced; something done with ease due to familiarity

Definition

Idiom: a task feels so familiar you handle it 'like driving a light cart on a familiar road' — emphasizes ease through long experience, not skill alone.

idiom
a routine task for someone experiencedsomething done with ease due to familiarity

Examples

  • ，轻车熟路。
    Tā zuò le èr shí nián kuài jì, chǔ lǐ zhè zhǒng bào biǎo qīng chē shú lù.
    He has been an accountant for twenty years, so handling this kind of report is a routine task for him.
  • ，轻车熟路。
    Duì lǎo sī jī lái shuō, kāi shān lù yě shì qīng chē shú lù.
    For an experienced driver, driving on mountain roads is also something they can do with ease.
  • ，轻车熟路。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù tā zuò guò hěn duō cì, zǎo jiù qīng chē shú lù le.
    He has done this project many times, so it's long been a routine task for him.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

轻车easy cart
轻qīngeasy车chēcart
偏正Modifier + head
熟路familiar road
熟shúfamiliar路lùroad
偏正Modifier + head

轻车 and 熟路 are put together: an easy cart and a familiar road suggest a task done smoothly through experience.

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.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 輕; 轻 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
車車jūcarriage
Sound part声符shēngfú
巠
巠jīng輕qīng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 輕 pairs 車, a carriage, with 巠 to give the sound; it originally named a light carriage. The simplified 轻 is only a later shorthand.

Open 轻 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 車; 车 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 車 was drawn as a carriage seen from above, with wheels on both sides and a shaft at the front; the simplified 车 is a later shorthand.

Open 车 →

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

熟 combines 孰 (cooked; ripe) with 灬 (fire), showing food cooked with fire.

Open 熟 →

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
足足zú
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè路lù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

路 combines 足, a foot, with 各, which supplies the sound.

Open 路 →

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