Meaning of xiehouyu | Babel Free

Definitions

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)".

Equivalents

Examples

“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]”

CEFR level