# 撅



## yuechu

Hello/大家好，

I was watching a TV show recently and came across the word 撅. Here is the dialogue:

女：你怎么了？一路都没怎么说话
男：觉得人生特别失败
女：因为你姐夫的妹妹
男：你怎么知道
女：我就是你肚子里的蛔虫。是不是你单相思让人家给*撅*回来了
男：好吧。你厉害。你是蛔虫
女：其实我觉得你根本就没有必要情绪这么低落。你这么优秀。她把你给*撅*了，那是她的损失。

Does anyone know what the word means in this context? The dictionary I use shows the meanings "embarrassed", "to pout", yet I think that it may be different here, right? Oh I just noticed another entry (I think 繁体字 differentiates them but 简体 does not) where it means "to snap/to break", but I think that is a different usage once again.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!


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## brofeelgood

In this context, it means *reject (probably in humiliating fashion)*. 

I think it's more commonly heard in the north though, can anyone confirm? Thanks.


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## SuperXW

As a northerner, I don't know this word can mean "to reject". I think it is a rather unique slang usage.
If you heard the woman pronounced jue1, it may be an alternative of 掰, meaning "to break/snap something in half with hands", as your dictionary suggested. But 掰 is more common in northern slang words. And yes, 掰 can describe a breakup in relationship.


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## fyl

I thought this was a northern slang because I know it and didn't see it in formal articles. However, since SuperXW doesn't know it, I'm not sure now.

I think the meaning "reject" may also come from "break" or "bend". There are phrases like 撅了个对头弯(bend a straight thing, e.g. stick, until its two ends meet) or 烧鸡大窝脖(neck curved back like a 烧鸡http://b.hiphotos.baidu.com/baike/c.../730e0cf3d7ca7bcb3349fb21be096b63f624a889.jpg). They both mean your request was rejected back in 180 degrees.

Edit: There is a different way to explain 烧鸡大窝脖. 烧鸡 are all red, which is similar to red face when someone is embarrassed. So the phrase means "embarrassed".


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## brofeelgood

Good stuff, but excuse me for digressing ... which of the following (if any) are valid uses of 掰? 

他俩掰了 - they've broken up ?
男的把女的给掰了 - he dumped her ?


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## retrogradedwithwind

brofeelgood said:


> Good stuff, but excuse me for digressing ... which of the following (if any) are valid uses of 掰?
> 
> 他俩掰了 - they've broken up ?
> 男的把女的给掰了 - he dumped her ?



That is my answer. I dont know how others use this chracter.


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## SuperXW

brofeelgood said:


> Good stuff, but excuse me for digressing ... which of the following (if any) are valid uses of 掰?
> 
> 他俩掰了 - they've broken up ?
> 男的把女的给掰了 - he dumped her ?


To me, 
他俩掰了 (They've broken up.) - common
我要跟她掰了 (I'm about to end my relationship with her.) - common 
男的把女的给*掰*了 - weird, ungrammatical, because it not "the woman" whom he broke, it's their relationship.
男的把女的给*撅*了 - more weird...

That's why I think in the original post, the sentence from the TV drama using 撅, was quite special, even weird (or should I say "interesting") to me.


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## yuechu

Thanks everyone for your help! I should have added that this TV show is set in the south of China (I'm not sure what city though...) so maybe this slang is from the south. Since it looks like 掰 is a more common word, I think I will remember that one instead. 谢谢！


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## SuperXW

baosheng said:


> Thanks everyone for your help! I should have added that this TV show is set in the south of China (I'm not sure what city though...) so maybe this slang is from the south.


Judging from the whole dialog, it's unlikely that the speakers are southerners. I would still consider 撅 is a special oral expression for "break" for that character.


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## fyl

brofeelgood said:


> 男的把女的给掰了 - he dumped her ?


For this one, 男的把女的给踹了 is the best one. For 掰, I agree with #6 and #7.



baosheng said:


> Thanks everyone for your help! I should have added that this TV show is set in the south of China (I'm not sure what city though...) so maybe this slang is from the south. Since it looks like 掰 is a more common word, I think I will remember that one instead. 谢谢！



I still think 撅 has a strong feeling of north. Maybe it is just limited to some parts of north China. At least it is perfect natural to me.
And 撅 is very different from 掰 in some other contexts. 撅 means to "reject" a request (can be any kind of request, borrowing money for example), and 掰 means to "break" a relationship (any kind of relationship, including business cooperation, etc). If I want to borrow money from you, you can only 撅 me back, and there is nothing to 掰.


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## brofeelgood

Thanks fyl, superxw and retrogradedwind for the elaborations.


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## SuperXW

fyl said:


> ...
> Maybe it is just limited to some parts of north China. At least it is perfect natural to me.
> And 撅 is very different from 掰 in some other contexts. 撅 means to "reject" a request (can be any kind of request, borrowing money for example), and 掰 means to "break" a relationship (any kind of relationship, including business cooperation, etc). If I want to borrow money from you, you can only 撅 me back, and there is nothing to 掰.


I'm also interested, because I don't know this 撅's usage as "reject". Can you give some examples? In which region do you use it?


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## Skatinginbc

撅 = 決 in some Chinese dialects where they are homophones, for instance,   元˙劉時中 (江西南昌人): 「刁天撅地」 (= 刁天決地); 元 施耐庵 (江苏人) 《水滸傳》: 「撅撒」 (= 決撒).
決, 斷也, 判也; 果斷、心志堅定不移、頑強 (e.g., 刁天決地). 
決, 開也; 揭袒挑明 (e.g., 決撒).
決, 別也, 與訣同 "leave, break up with, say goodbye to".
让人给*撅*了 = 被人果斷、挑明地訣別了, 被人斷然回絕了.


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## fyl

SuperXW said:


> I'm also interested, because I don't know this 撅's usage as "reject". Can you give some examples? In which region do you use it?


The most common examples I can think of are 给/被撅回来了, the same as in the dialogue in #1. Typically the sentence is 我去做xx事[比如我去找他借点东西]，结果被撅回来了. Googling "撅回来" gives a lot of these examples, like "今天去和单位一把手理论辞职的事，被撅回来啦" or "今早去跟物业谈改水管，又被撅回来了，苦！".
Googling "撅了个对头弯" gives other interesting posts: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2892223429 and http://www.millionbook.net/mj/l/laoshe/zw14/020.htm (search 這一招儿就把咱撅個對頭彎 in that page).
I also find a post talking about 撅: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3245269062 Here it is explained clearly.
Though we also use 撅 in my dialect, I have an impression that it is more common in 普通话/北京话/东北话 contexts (and the above links also suggest so). So it seems quite widely used in 东北 and 华北, I'm not really sure in which specific regions it is used.


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