Intermediate - What is a Chengyu? (C0853)

A 啊,这么多成语!太乱七八糟了!怎么办?
ǎ, zhème duō chéngyǔ! tài luànqībāzāo le! zěnme bàn?
Ah! So many chengyu! What a mess! What should I do?
B 别担心,日常生活不需要那么多成语,知道几个就好。比如乱七八糟。
bié dānxīn, rìcháng shēnghuó bù xūyào nàme duō chéngyǔ, zhīdào jǐ ge jiù hǎo. bǐrú luànqībāzāo.
Don't worry, in everyday life you don't need to know very many chengyu. If you know a few, it's enough. For example, 'what a mess.'
A 我还以为四个字的都是成语,结果好多只是普通词组。
wǒ hái yǐwéi sì ge zì de dōu shì chéngyǔ, jiéguǒ hǎo duō zhǐ shì pǔtōng cízǔ.
I thought that four words together were all chengyu. It turns out a lot are just popular sayings.
B 成语都是固定的,不能随便改。
chéngyǔ dōu shì gùdìng de, bùnéng suíbiàn gǎi.
All chengyu are fixed. One can't just change them around.
A 真不明白,语言都是活的,为什么我们不能改?
zhēn bù míngbai, yǔyán dōu shì huó de, wèishénme wǒmen bùnéng gǎi?
I really don't understand. All language is alive. Why can't we change them?
B 这就是成语的特点。它们好多都是从历史故事或者古典文学来的,经过很长时间才成为成语。
zhè jiùshì chéngyǔ de tèdiǎn. tāmen hǎo duō dōu shì cóng lìshǐ gùshi huòzhě gǔdiǎn wénxué lái de, jīngguò hěn cháng shíjiān cái chéngwéi chéngyǔ.
This is the special thing about chengyu. Many of them come from historical tales or classical literature. Only after a long time do they become chengyu.
A 是谁决定的呢?
shì shéi juédìng de ne?
So who decides that they are?
B 我也不知道,我又不是语言学家。你别给自己那么大压力,不会成语不影响沟通。
wǒ yě bù zhīdào, wǒ yòu bù shì yǔyánxuéjiā. nǐ bié gěi zìjǐ nàme dà yālì, bùhuì chéngyǔ bù yǐngxiǎng gōutōng.
I don't know either, I'm certainly no linguist. Don't give yourself so much pressure. Not being able to use chengyu won't influence your ability to communicate.
A 说的也对。
shuō de yě duì.
Well, that's true.

Key Vocabulary

成语 chéngyǔ idiom
乱七八糟 luànqībāzāo in a mess
日常 rìcháng day-to-day
以为 yǐwéi to think mistakenly
结果 jiéguǒ result
普通 pǔtōng common
词组 cízǔ phrase
固定 gùdìng fixed
huó alive
特点 tèdiǎn characteristic
古典 gǔdiǎn classical
文学 wénxué literature
决定 juédìng to decide
语言学家 yǔyánxuéjiā linguist
压力 yālì pressure
影响 yǐngxiǎng to influence
沟通 gōutōng communication

Supplementary Vocabulary

混乱 hùnluàn confused
日常用品 rìcháng yòngpǐn daily essentials
普通话 pǔtōnghuà Mandarin Chinese
语言学 yǔyánxué linguistics
大师 dàshī master
级别 jíbié level
固定搭配 gùdìng dāpèi set phrase