每天成语
background texture
< 犹豫不决无可奉告 >

横七竖八

*The explanations on this page are generated by AI. Please note that they may contain inaccurate information.

1. Basic Information

  • Pinyin: héng qī shù bā
  • English Translation: Scattered in disorder (at sixes and sevens)
  • Idiom Composition: 「横」（Horizontal; across）＋「七」（Seven; used here to symbolize disorder or 'many'）＋「竖」（Vertical; upright）＋「八」（Eight; used here to symbolize disorder or 'many'）
  • Meaning: A visual description of objects placed or lying in a chaotic, disorganized manner, pointing in all different directions. It carries a slightly negative nuance, suggesting untidiness or a lack of care.

2. Detailed Meaning and Nuances

「横七竖八」 contains the following nuances:

  • Visual Disorder: Unlike idioms for abstract confusion (like mental state or social order), this term is primarily used for 'concrete objects' that are physically scattered.
  • Lack of Uniformity: By combining 'horizontal' and 'vertical,' the idiom emphasizes that things which should be aligned are instead pointing in conflicting directions.
  • The Role of Numbers: The numbers 'seven' and 'eight' function as 'imaginary numbers' (虚数) in Chinese, representing 'miscellaneous' or 'all over' rather than specific counts.

3. Usage

「横七竖八」 is mainly used in the following contexts:

  • Messy rooms or spaces: The most common usage, describing furniture, luggage, or trash left in a disorganized state.
    • Example:「搬家刚结束，客厅里横七竖八地堆满了纸箱。」
      （The move just finished, and the living room is filled with cardboard boxes piled up in a mess.）
  • Postures or sleeping positions: Describes multiple people lying down in various directions due to exhaustion or intoxication.
    • Example:「聚会结束后，喝醉的朋友们横七竖八地躺在沙发和地板上。」
      （After the party, my drunk friends were lying all over the place on the sofa and the floor.）
  • Disaster or accident scenes: Used in serious contexts to describe fallen trees, rubble, or casualties scattered across a scene.
    • Example:「台风过后，街道上的树木被吹得横七竖八，阻断了交通。」
      （After the typhoon, trees on the street were blown down in every which way, blocking traffic.）

Additional Examples:

  1. 他的书桌上横七竖八地放着各种文件和零食。
    （Various documents and snacks are scattered in total disorder across his desk.）
  2. 停车场里的自行车停得横七竖八，根本走不过去。
    （The bicycles in the parking lot are parked so haphazardly that you can't even walk through.）
  3. 为了赶工期，工人们累得在工地上横七竖八地睡着了。
    （To meet the deadline, the workers were so tired they fell asleep in all sorts of positions at the construction site.）
  4. 不要把鞋子脱得横七竖八的，进门要摆整齐。
    （Don't leave your shoes scattered everywhere; line them up neatly when you come in.）
  5. 那片空地上横七竖八地插着许多不知名的旗帜。
    （In that vacant lot, many unknown flags were planted at all sorts of angles.）

4. Cultural Background and Notes

  • The Numbers 7 and 8: In Chinese idioms, combining 'seven' (七) and 'eight' (八) is a common rhetorical device to express chaos or excess, as seen in 乱七八糟 (luàn qī bā zāo) or 七嘴八舌 (qī zuǐ bā shé).
  • Literary Origin: This phrase appears in the classic Ming Dynasty novel Water Margin (水浒传) to describe the gruesome scene of bodies scattered after a battle. While it is used for 'messy rooms' today, its origins were much more intense.
  • Grammatical Usage: It is most often used as an adverbial modifier followed by a verb, such as 横七竖八地放着 (héng qī shù bā de fàng zhe - 'placed in a mess') or as a predicate describing a state.

5. Similar and Opposite Idioms

6. Summary

The idiom 横七竖八 (héng qī shù bā) emphasizes visual clutter. It is commonly used to describe a messy room, people sleeping haphazardly in various positions, or the aftermath of a disaster where debris is strewn about. In Chinese numerology within idioms, the numbers 'seven' and 'eight' often symbolize chaos rather than literal quantities.

'造句' Feature Usage Guide

造句练习📝

Try creating sentences using '横七竖八'!

0/50