泼 pō
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 氵 — water
- Made of
- 氵 water 发 to issue, to dispatch, to send out
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
泼冷水
pōlěngshuǐ
to pour cold water on; to discourage
Characters in this word
冷 lěng
- Strokes
- 7
- Radical
- 冫 — ice
- Made of
- 冫 ice 令 command, decree, order
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
水 shuǐ
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 水 — water, liquid, lotion, juice
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
Example phrases
- 我并不是想给你的计划泼冷水，只是预算风险必须提前说明。 Wǒ bìng bú shì xiǎng gěi nǐ de jìhuà pō lěngshuǐ, zhǐ shì yùsuàn fēngxiǎn bìxū tíqián shuōmíng. I am not trying to pour cold water on your plan; it is just that the budget risk must be explained in advance.
- 大家正高兴的时候，你别泼冷水。 Dàjiā zhèng gāoxìng de shíhou, nǐ bié pō lěngshuǐ. Don't pour cold water on things while everyone is happy.
- 他想创业，家人却一直给他泼冷水。 Tā xiǎng chuàngyè, jiārén què yìzhí gěi tā pō lěngshuǐ. He wants to start a business, but his family keeps pouring cold water on it.
Related words
- 活泼 huópo lively
- 泼 pō to splash; to pour
- 冷 lěng cold
- 寒冷 hánlěng cold
- 冷静 lěngjìng calm
- 忽冷忽热 hūlěnghūrè changeable; hot and cold
- 冷淡 lěngdàn cold; indifferent; to treat coldly
- 冷冻 lěngdòng to freeze; frozen
- 冷酷 lěngkù cold-hearted; ruthless
- 冷落 lěngluò desolate; to neglect; to cold-shoulder
- 冷门 lěngmén unpopular; obscure; less favoured
- 冷漠 lěngmò indifferent; apathetic