xiehouyu

See also: xiēhòuyǔ

English

Etymology

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of Mandarin 歇後語 / 歇后语 (xiēhòuyǔ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃjɛ.hoʊ.(j)u/

Noun

xiehouyu (plural xiehouyu)

1. (linguistics) A kind of Chinese proverb consisting of two elements: the former segment presents a novel scenario while the latter provides the rationale thereof. One would often only state the first part, expecting the listener to know the second. Compare English "a stitch in time (saves nine)" or "a bird in the hand (is worth two in the bush)".
   • [1914, Arthur H. Smith, “Puns and Other Linguistic Diversions.”, in Proverbs and Common Sayings from the Chinese‎^[1], New and Revised edition, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, →OCLC, pages 248-249:

     All that is necessary for a successful hsieh hou yü is that the characters of which it is composed should have a well known, invariable order. This being presupposed, mere arbitrary sounds in which the characters have no meaning at all, are quite as good as any others. Thus the sounds, chʽih pu leng teng (吃不楞登) represent the noise of beating on a drum, or anything similar, like our ‘rub-a-dub-dub.’ Hence the hsieh hou yü: ‘Light the Ch’ih-pu-leng,’ i.e, teng, Lamp. 點上了吃不楞[燈]]

Translations

certain kind of Chinese proverb

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 歇後語 / 歇后语 (hit³ hau⁶ jyu⁵)

  Hokkien: 孽詰仔話 / 孽诘仔话 (gia̍t-khiat-á-ōe)

  Mandarin: 歇後語 / 歇后语 (zh) (xiēhòuyǔ)

• Russian: сехоую́й m (sexoujúj), «недогово́рка» (ru) f («nedogovórka»)

Further reading

• “xiehouyu”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.