嬉笑怒罵

Chinese

		amusement	laugh; smile	indignant	scold; abuse
trad. (嬉笑怒罵)		嬉	笑	怒	罵
simp. (嬉笑怒骂)		嬉	笑	怒	骂
alternative forms		嘻笑怒罵

Etymology

From an eulogy by Huang Tingjian dedicated to Su Shi:

嬉笑怒罵，皆成文章。解羈而歸，紫微玉堂。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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嬉笑怒骂，皆成文章。解羁而归，紫微玉堂。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 1102, 黃庭堅,《東坡先生真贊》

Xīxiào nùmà, jiē chéng wénzhāng. Jiě jī ér guī, zǐwēi yùtáng. [Pinyin]

In mirth or wrath, his words weave masterpieces;
From exile freed, he reigns in halls of splendor.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīxiàonùmà

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄋㄨˋ ㄇㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hei¹ siu³ nou⁶ maa⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīxiàonùmà
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄋㄨˋ ㄇㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sisiàonùmà
    • Wade–Giles: hsi¹-hsiao⁴-nu⁴-ma⁴
    • Yale: syī-syàu-nù-mà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shishiawnuhmah
    • Palladius: сисяонума (sisjaonuma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ nu⁵¹⁻⁵³ mä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong–Macau)⁺
    • Jyutping: hei¹ siu³ nou⁶ maa⁶
    • Yale: hēi siu nouh mah
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hei¹ siu³ nou⁶ maa⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: héi¹ xiu³ nou⁶ ma⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hei̯⁵⁵ siːu̯³³ nou̯²² maː²²/

Idiom

嬉笑怒罵

1. (literally) merry laughter and angry scolding; (figurative) all kinds of emotions

   • 我生如戲，嬉笑怒罵，皆戲具耳；我生如夢，語言文字，皆夢讛耳。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     我生如戏，嬉笑怒骂，皆戏具耳；我生如梦，语言文字，皆梦呓耳。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1767, 史震林,《華陽散稿》自序, translated by Lin Yutang

     Wǒ shēng rú xì, xīxiàonùmà, jiē xìjù ěr; wǒ shēng rú mèng, yǔyán wénzì, jiē mèngyì ěr. [Pinyin]

     Our life is like a play as we stomp about the stage, laughing with joy or shouting in a rage. It is like a dream in which we write and talk like somnambulists.

2. (of writing, etc.) freely roving; ironic and invective