指 zhǐ
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 扌 — hand
- Made of
- 扌 hand 旨 aim, intention, purpose, will
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
指手画脚
zhǐshǒuhuàjiǎo
to gesticulate and criticise; to boss people around
Characters in this word
手 shǒu
- Strokes
- 4
- Radical
- 手 — hand
- How it's built
- Pictograph — a drawing of the thing
画 huà
- Strokes
- 8
- Radical
- 田 — field, farm, arable land
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
脚 jiǎo
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- ⺼ — meat, flesh
- Made of
- ⺼ meat, flesh 却 still, but
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
Example phrases
- 别人干活时，他只会站在一旁指手画脚。 Biérén gànhuó shí, tā zhǐ huì zhàn zài yī páng zhǐshǒuhuàjiǎo. While others do the work, he only stands aside and bosses people around.
- 他连做饭都不会，却总对我的厨艺指手画脚。 Tā lián zuò fàn dōu bú huì, què zǒng duì wǒ de chúyì zhǐshǒuhuàjiǎo. He cannot even cook, yet he is always criticising my cooking.
- 新来的经理从不指手画脚，而是认真听取大家的意见。 Xīn lái de jīnglǐ cóngbù zhǐshǒuhuàjiǎo, ér shì rènzhēn tīngqǔ dàjiā de yìjiàn. The new manager never bosses people around; instead he carefully listens to everyone's opinions.