# 煞有其事 / 煞有介事



## xiaolijie

Anyone familiar with these two expressions? Do they mean the same or are they different expressions? I looked at some examples on the net and they seem to mean differently but I'm not sure whether I'm correct.

Will appreciate any view you might have.


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## rockvivian

“介”means “其" ,"这", in Chinese, they litterally mean "that"
"介" is a dialect in southern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

go to: baike.baidu.com/view/254681.htm


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## Ghabi

The former (煞有其事) is probably a corrupted form of the latter (煞有介事), by analogy of idioms like 真有其事/若無其事. Perhaps many people say 煞有其事, but it just doesn't click for me.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you to both. I've got it now, they are just variattions of the same. It's examples such as below that led me into thinking that they might be different:

-我之前认为她很搞笑,但是现在她的态度已变得煞有其事。
-我不介意有时候帮她的忙，但是这正变变得煞有其事了。
Does anyone think that the use of "煞有其事" in these sentences is not very typical of its meaning?

Cheers,


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## snooprun

I have Baidu it , here are their meanings: 
*煞有其事 *shà yǒu qí shì 好像真有那么回事似的 
*煞有介事 *shà yǒu jiè shì 指装模作样，像真有那么一回事 
Literally, I think these two words are all but interchangeable. Be there any difference, it would be that 煞有介事 sounds a little bit formal than the other.


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## xiaolijie

Thanks, snooprun, your search is very helpful but I still have difficulty in fitting these meanings into the sentences in my previous post:
-我之前认为她很搞笑,但是现在她的态度已变得煞有其事。
-我不介意有时候帮她的忙，但是这正变变得煞有其事了。
Can you (or any other member) try translating these into English? (The translations would illuminate the meaning of "煞有其事" in these sentences).


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## Ghabi

xiaolijie said:


> -我之前认为她很搞笑,但是现在她的态度已变得煞有其事。
> -我不介意有时候帮她的忙，但是这正变变得煞有其事了。


I can't seem to figure out their meanings ... any context?


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## Lamb67

煞有其事了, I suggest beguilingly and google translate suggests enthusiastically.

I thought she was funny before,but she is acting more beguilingly now.
I don't mind helping her sometimes,but I am afraid I am becoming more used to now.

I'd admit it is tough for me and my English sounds awkward.


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## snooprun

xiaolijie said:


> Thanks, snooprun, your search is very helpful but I still have difficulty in fitting these meanings into the sentences in my previous post:
> -我之前认为她很搞笑,但是现在她的态度已变得煞有其事。
> -我不介意有时候帮她的忙，但是这正变变得煞有其事了。
> Can you (or any other member) try translating these into English? (The translations would illuminate the meaning of "煞有其事" in these sentences).


Lack of necessary context may make my translation inaccurate. 
I thought she was not serious, but literally she did.

Though I didn't mind helping her occissionally, that has become a routine. The second sample sentence sounds awkard to me, I therefore doubt if itself is correct.

Anyway, my proposed revision of these two sentences are
1. 我之前以为她在开玩笑，可她的态度却越来越严肃了。
2. 我不介意偶尔给她帮忙，但她却对此习以为常了。
To my knowledge, both two Chinese idioms are used in a wrong way in your sample sentences.


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## xiaolijie

Sorry, no context for these sentences, Ghabi. They were given on the net only as language examples. I think you and others are facing the difficulty I'm facing. These examples don't seem to be good ones for learning the basic meaning of "煞有其事" (because the logics / reasoning expressed in the sentences somehow doesn't seem to work).

Thanks snooprun, just saw your posts after I've posted. Yes, I agree with you and the meaning is much clearer in your suggested revision.


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## snooprun

Glad to be helpful.


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## Lamb67

That's a likely story !
page 605 , on likely . 象煞有介事 ! 说得倒象!
A quote from my nearly 40 years old English Chinese dictionary, the same edition was gifted to Thatcher PM by the Chinese leader when visiting Beijing.


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## Boyar

Lamb67 said:


> That's a likely story !
> page 605 , on likely . 象煞有介事 ! 说得倒象!


《象煞有介事》和《煞有介事》是一样的吗？


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## Ghabi

Boyar said:


> 《象煞有介事》和《煞有介事》是一样的吗？


像煞有介事 sounds wrong to me. The author seems to have equated it with 真有其事.

煞有介事 is a common idiom (we also use it in Cantonese). Although the actual translation depends, as usual, on context, the general idea is "as if it were something serious/for real". That's why 像煞有介事 sounds wrong: you don't say "like as if ...", which is redundant.


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## Lamb67

煞有介事_历史典故:煞有介事解释_故事煞有介事来历意思与出处_历史典故

I'm sorry to say lu xun  used 像煞有介事, you are still entitled to your view. Language is so complicated😇

Edit: a slight misunderstanding happened, nevertheless just keep this post for reference.


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## Boyar

Ghabi said:


> 像煞有介事 sounds wrong to me.


《像煞有介事》和《象煞有介事》是一样的吗？

我发现了这个 :  (象煞有介事)



> 成语出处茅盾《子夜》：“屠维岳的法宝就是说大话，象煞有介事，满嘴的有办法，有把握！”
> 
> 《象煞有介事》是什么意思、怎么读 - 成语大全 - 911查询


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## Lamb67

Ghabi said:


> 像煞有介事 sounds wrong to me. The author seems to have equated it with 真有其事.


Absolutely you are right. That's a likely story should be translated as you suggested here


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## Skatinginbc

‘煞有介事’ 是江浙方言。江浙著名作家如茅盾（浙江桐鄉人）、魯迅（浙江紹興人）都說「*像*煞有介事」（*像*真有這麼一回事似的）， 那是道地用法。 因是方言借詞，曹禺（祖籍湖北潛江，生於天津）的《北京人》中，‘煞有介事’ 便加了引號：“抱著東西走向曾霆，‘煞有介事’ 的樣子。” 成語化之後，‘煞有介事’ 則可直接指 "像真有這麼一回事似的", 不需 "像"。 有"像"沒錯, 沒"像"也對, 不同語層罷了。

煞 = (1) 方言: 確 (e.g., 煞實 = 確實; 煞有 = 的確有一套); (2) 通語: 很、極、甚 (e.g., 煞費苦心 = 很費苦心 )。 "煞有其事" 字面就是 "確有其事，很有這一回事（的樣子）" 的意思，乃"煞有介事" 的變體, 以通語的 "其" (這 this, 那 that), 替代方言的 "介" (這麼, 那樣, 如此, such)。


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