垂頭喪氣

Chinese

to hang or bow one's head
trad. (垂頭喪氣) 垂頭 喪氣
simp. (垂头丧气) 垂头 丧气
Literally: “to bow one's head and lose heart”.

Etymology

From “Goodbye to Penury” (《送窮文》) by Han Yu (韓愈):

主人於是垂頭喪氣,上手稱謝,燒車與船,延之上座。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
主人于是垂头丧气,上手称谢,烧车与船,延之上座。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Zhǔrén yúshì chuítóusàngqì, shàngshǒu chēngxiè, shāo chē yǔ chuán, yán zhī shàngzuò. [Pinyin]
The master then bowed his head and felt disheartened, raised his hand to thank them [the ghosts of poverty], burned the cart and boat, and invited them to the seat of honour.

Pronunciation



Rime
Character 垂 頭 喪 氣
Reading # 1/1 1/1 2/2 1/2
Initial (聲) 常 (25) 定 (7) 心 (16) 溪 (29)
Final (韻) 支 (12) 侯 (137) 唐 (101) 微 (20)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Departing (H) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Closed Open Open Open
Division (等) III I I III
Fanqie 是爲切 度侯切 蘇浪切 去旣切
Baxter dzywe duw sangH khj+jH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/d͡ʑiuᴇ/ /dəu/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰɨiH/
Pan
Wuyun
/d͡ʑʷiɛ/ /dəu/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰɨiH/
Shao
Rongfen
/d͡ʑjuɛ/ /dəu/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰiəiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/d͡ʑwiə̆/ /dəw/ /saŋH/ /kʰɨjH/
Li
Rong
/ʑiue/ /du/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰiəiH/
Wang
Li
/ʑǐwe/ /dəu/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰĭəiH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/ʑwie̯/ /dʱə̯u/ /sɑŋH/ /kʰe̯iH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
chuí tóu sàng qì
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
seoi4 tau4 song3 hei3

Idiom

垂頭喪氣

  1. dispirited; dejected; frustrated
    他受一點挫折就垂頭喪氣了。 [MSC, trad.]
    他受一点挫折就垂头丧气了。 [MSC, simp.]
    Tā shòu yīdiǎn cuòzhé jiù chuítóusàngqì le. [Pinyin]
    He became frustrated after experiencing a little setback.

Synonyms

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.