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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

別有用心

/pi̯ɛ³⁵ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ jʊŋ⁵¹ ɕin⁵⁵/
to have an ulterior motive
  • 别有用心
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The phrase describes hidden intentions, much like a gesture of kindness that conceals a different, private purpose.
The phrase describes hidden intentions, much like a gesture of kindness that conceals a different, private purpose.

Origin

The phrase 別有用心 is composed of four characters. The character 別 means to divide or to separate; it contains the components 冎 (bone) and 刀 (knife or blade). The character 有 means to have or to possess when a subject is present; it is formed with the phonetic component 又 (again or once more) and the semantic components 肉 (meat or flesh) and 月 (moon).

The remaining characters are 用, meaning to use, to employ, or to operate, and 心, meaning heart. Together, these characters form the expression used to describe speech or actions driven by a separate intention or purpose.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

這個詞彙由四個漢字組成。其中「別」字包含「冎」（骨頭）與「刀」（刀、刀刃）作為組成部分，其本義為「分隔」或「分離」。「有」字則由「肉」、「月」這兩個表示意義的部件，以及「又」（再次、再一次）這個表示聲音的部件所構成，意指「擁有」或「持有」。

此外，「用」字代表「使用」、「運用」或「操作」，而「心」字則指「心臟」。這四個字組合在一起，用來描述某人的言行背後隱藏著其他的目的。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese別 “to divide; to separate”
    • ideaChinese冎 “bone”
    • ideaChinese刀 “knife; blade (Classifier: 把 m c g h j mb md w x; 張／张 c h; 叢／丛 mn; 支 mn mn-t)”
  • characterChinese有 “to have; to possess (when a subject is present)”
    • soundChinese又 “again; once more”
    • meaningChinese肉 “meat; flesh”
    • meaningChinese月 “moon (Classifier: 輪／轮 m)”
  • characterChinese用 “to use; to employ; to operate”
  • characterChinese心 “heart (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 個／个 c; 粒 mn)”
Wiktionary etymology text

No etymology text yet. The graph shows what is known from the sources.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to have an ulterior motive

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 言論或行動另有企圖或目的。 例：他突然改變態度，一定別有用心。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0