gay裡gay氣
Chinese
| gay | inside | gay | gas; air; smell | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (gay裡gay氣/gay裏gay氣) | gay | 裡/裏 | gay | 氣 | |
| simp. (gay里gay气) | gay | 里 | gay | 气 | |
Etymology
Applying English gay in the general pejorative construction ……裡……氣／……里……气 (...lǐ...qì), which was originally the ……裡……/……里…… (...lǐ...)-augmented reduplication of disyllabic adjectives ending in 氣／气 (qì, “manner; air”); cf. the following examples:
怪 (guài, “strange”) → 怪氣／怪气 (“weird”) → 怪裡怪氣／怪里怪气 (guàiliguàiqì, “weird”) 傻 (shǎ, “foolish”) 傻氣／傻气 (shǎqì, “silly”) 傻裡傻氣／傻里傻气 (shǎlishǎqì, “looking stupid”) 土 (tǔ, “rustic”) 土氣／土气 (tǔqì, “rustic”) 土裡土氣／土里土气 (tǔlitǔqì, “looking unsophisticated”) 流 (liú, “idling”) 流氣／流气 (liúqì, “rascally”) 流裡流氣／流里流气 (“hooligan-like”)
Pronunciation
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