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骗人 (piàn rén) — to deceive people, to cheat someone

Definition

A colloquial verb meaning 'to deceive / trick people' — focuses on lying to or fooling others in everyday speech. Often used as a short imperative ('别骗人!' = 'don't lie!').

verb
to deceive peopleto cheat someone

Examples

  • 骗人，。
    Tā jīng cháng piàn rén, dà jiā dōu bù xiāng xìn tā le.
    He often deceives people, so everyone doesn't believe him anymore.
  • ，。
    Tā piàn le hěn duō rén, zuì hòu bèi fā xiàn le.
    He deceived many people and was finally discovered.
  • 骗人，。
    Bié piàn rén, shuō zhēn huà ba.
    Don't deceive people, speak the truth.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

骗piàndeceive
人rénpeople

Deceive plus people gives the sense of cheating someone.

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 騙; 骗 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
馬馬mǎhorse
Sound part声符shēngfú
扁
扁biǎn騙piàn
Same sound today

The traditional form 騙 pairs 馬 (horse) with 扁, which gives the sound; it originally meant to mount a horse by swinging a leg across it. The simplified 骗 is a later abbreviation.

Open 骗 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →
Appears in
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