Jump to content

Talk:脫口秀

Page contents not supported in other languages.
Add topic
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Latest comment: 6 years ago by Richwarm88

Notes regarding etymology

脫口秀 has been used to refer to live comedy acts since 1992 or earlier. No later than 2003, it also began to be used to mean talk show. 秀 was borrowed, originally in Taiwan, from English show. 脫口 is a w:phono-semantic matching derived from 脫口而出 (meaning say spontaneously) and — at least for the "talk show" sense — English talk.


1) 脫口秀 has been used to refer to live comedy acts since 1992 or earlier.

Example from 1992:

鄧:其實是誤打誤撞的。我很喜歡表演,不過我父親不喜歡,所以到廿七歲我才有機會進演藝圈。一開始在歌廳表演脫口秀,但那是為生活不得不為。

Teng: Actually, it was sort of by accident. I always wanted to perform but my father didn't approve, so it I wasn't until I was 27 that I managed to join the professional ranks. I started out doing routines in nightclubs just to make a living. [Translation published by Taiwan Panorama]

真假祝基瀅對談錄 (Taiwan Panorama 1992 / 7月) [1]

2) No later than 2003, it also began to be used to mean talk show.

Example from 2003:

讀書會要發揮閱讀效果,一定要有一位靈魂人物,譬如像美國脫口秀主持人歐普拉的讀書會,凡是經過她推薦的書,可以多賣好幾萬本。

For these reading associations to truly reach their potential, we would need a spokesperson along the lines of US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, whose Midas-touch recommendations invariably send book sales through the roof. [Translation published by Taiwan Panorama]

閱讀運動的推手──讀書俱樂部 (Taiwan Panorama 2003 / 5月) [2]


3) 秀 was borrowed, originally in Taiwan, from English show.

The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Chinese Language (p. 575) Chpt 32 Loanwords - Miao Ruiqin, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China [3]


4) 脫口 is a phono-semantic matching derived from 脫口而出

The 规范汉语词典 entry for 脱口秀 says

廣播電視中以談話為主的節目形式。不但要說得精彩得體, 而且多是即興脫口而出, 故稱。

秀: 英語show音譯

Richwarm88 (talk) 03:11, 28 November 2018 (UTC)Reply