金童玉女 (jīn tóng yù nǚ) — (figurative) ideal couple; perfect match; (literal, Taoist mythology) golden boy and jade girl (attendants of deities)

Definition

A chengyu for a couple who look or perform as a 'perfect match.' Originally a Taoist image of the golden boy and jade girl who served immortals; today almost always used figuratively to praise a pair.

idiom
(figurative) ideal coupleperfect match(literal, Taoist mythology) golden boy and jade girl (attendants of deities)

Examples

  • ，，金童玉女。
    Zài hūn lǐ shàng, xīn láng hé xīn niáng zhàn zài yì qǐ, zhēn shì jīn tóng yù nǚ.
    At the wedding, the groom and bride stood together — truly a perfect couple.
  • 金童玉女。
    Zhè duì míng xīng qíng lǚ bèi fěn sī chēng wéi jīn tóng yù nǚ.
    This celebrity couple is called a perfect pair by fans.
  • ，金童玉女。
    Tā men liǎ zài bǐ sài zhōng pèi hé mò qì, jiǎn zhí jiù shì jīn tóng yù nǚ.
    The two of them cooperated seamlessly in the competition — they're simply a perfect match.

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.

金童golden boy
金jīngolden童tóngboy
偏正Modifier + head
玉女jade girl
玉yùjade女nǚgirl
偏正Modifier + head

金童 and 玉女 pair golden boy with jade girl to describe an ideal couple.

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.

金 was drawn with marks for two pieces of metal, along with a part that gave its sound; it first meant copper, then metals and gold.

Open 金 →

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

  • 䇂䇂䇂chisel
  • 見見jiànkneeling person with a huge eye

The form 童 comes from a pairing of 䇂 (a chisel) with 見 (a kneeling person with a huge eye), depicting a person having an eye gouged out.

Open 童 →

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

玉 was drawn as a ritual jade piece, or as jade pieces strung together, and was made distinct from 王 by adding a dot.

Open 玉 →

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

女 shows a woman with folded arms, kneeling or standing. In the modern form the figure faces right, and the small enclosed part is what is left of one arm.

Open 女 →

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