# Pronunciation: 噱头



## yuechu

大家好！

I recently learned the word 噱头 on a TV show.
Would you suggest pronouncing it xuētóu or xuétóu? The dictionary seems to prefer xuétóu but I heard it on a Mainland TV show being pronounced xuētóu. Are both of these common pronunciations?

Also, it means "something funny", right? (In this context, a misunderstanding caused paparazzi and the media to think that the boss was going out with his client, but it was all 误会)

Thanks!


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## ovaltine888

I have never known that the standard pronunciation is xue2 until today. I always read and hear it as xue1.

I'm not sure about it in your context. To me 噱头 is a stunt that draws attention from people, such as a publicity stunt.


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## yuechu

ovaltine888 said:


> I have never known about the standard pronunciation is xue2 until today. I always read and hear it as xue1.


OK, great! I just need to know which one is common. Thanks for confirming that!



ovaltine888 said:


> I'm not sure about it in your context. To me 噱头 is a stunt that draws attention from people.


That makes more sense in this context. (The boss's boss is also talking about using the attention from this event (even though it was a misunderstanding) to the company's advantage, since they don't have to pay for this media attention as they usually would have to)

Thanks, Ovaltine888!


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## AquisM

yuechu said:


> Also, it means "something funny", right? (In this context, a misunderstanding caused paparazzi and the media to think that the boss was going out with his client, but it was all 误会)


A 噱头 is, like Oval said, a publicity stunt or a gimmick, something done to attract attention.

现在很多餐厅都是华而不实，只管搞噱头来吸引顾客拍照、打卡，而不管食物的素质。
_Many restaurants these days are all looks and no substance. They only care about coming up with all sorts of gimmicks to get people to come and take pictures to put on social media, and ignore the quality of their food._


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## T.D

Technically, 噱 has two pronunciations, jue2 and xue2. 新华字典 indicates that jue2 is the standard one, while xue2 is dialectal. And I have to confess I personally pronounce it as xue1 and I would say people around me had no difficulty understanding it. (and I had never heard of people saying jue2tou2)

While a 噱头 can be something funny, it's, more specifically, something that is *made impressive* *intentionally* with an aim to amuse or impress the audience. For example, celebrity endorsement is a classic 噱头 of marketing and talkshow performers should have a lot of 噱头 in their sleeves.


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## AquisM

By the way, xuētóu seems to be the standard pronunciation in Taiwan (prescribed by the Ministry of Education). Just a little FYI.


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## yuechu

Thank you all for your help!

For the character 噱's pronunciation jué, is it commonly used at all? (It means "loud laughter", right?)


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## henter

yuechu said:


> Thank you all for your help!
> 
> For the character 噱's pronunciation jué, is it commonly used at all? (It means "loud laughter", right?)


噱头 is widely used nationwide , not the word 噱. Only some folk claim that 噱 can be used to refer to a case in which someone tries to hornswoggle another person. It means 忽悠 in 上海话. I'm not sure about this.


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## Styx09

Hi dear, the correct pronunciation for 噱头 would be [xué(xue2) tóu], some Chinese native speakers also pronounce as xue4 though, the only correct one is xue2.
And we seldom see anyone read this character as jue2.


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## T.D

yuechu said:


> Thank you all for your help!
> 
> For the character 噱's pronunciation jué, is it commonly used at all? (It means "loud laughter", right?)


Yes it means loud laughter. And no I don't think it's commonly used.


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## ovaltine888

henter said:


> Only some folk claim that 噱 can be used to refer to a case in which someone tries to hornswoggle another person. It means 忽悠 in 上海话. I'm not sure about this.


Never heard that in Shanghaiese. Can you give me an example?

I only know 戆噱噱 means 傻乎乎.


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## henter

ovaltine888 said:


> Never heard that in Shanghaiese. Can you give me an example?
> 
> I only know 戆噱噱 means 傻乎乎.


  这个说法来自百度的上海话吧. 上海话里 噱人家 的意思？_上海话吧_百度贴吧


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## T.D

在杭州话里有一个xue1，是骗，trick的意思，不过我不知道写成汉字应该是怎么样的，而且一般只有年轻人才用，我奶奶那一辈人还是会说骗。


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## SuperXW

I pronounced xue1头. I've heard xue4头. Rarely xue2头. Never heard of jue2.


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## Messquito

Taiwanese here. xuē for me and I'm convinced I very rarely but sometimes hear xuè, but I was never aware of the xué pronunciation until now.


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## hx1997

Xué for me, because when I was in high school, 噱头 was taught as one of the commonly mispronounced words. I've heard xuè, but never xuē.


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## sorrowispower




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