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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

適得其反

/ʂɻ̩⁵¹ tɤ³⁵ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ fän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
to run counter to one's desire; to have the exact opposite effect of what one wished; to backfire
  • 适得其反
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The phrase describes an action that leads to the exact opposite result intended, much like a path turning away from its destination.
The phrase describes an action that leads to the exact opposite result intended, much like a path turning away from its destination.

Origin

The phrase is formed by combining four characters. The character 適 means to go or to proceed to a place. It contains the semantic component 辵, which means to walk for a while and be still for a while, and the phonetic component 啻, meaning only or just. Within 辵, there are the components 彳, meaning to walk slowly, and 止, meaning foot.

Other components of the phrase include 得, meaning to get, to obtain, to gain, or to acquire; 其, meaning his, her, its, or their; and 反, meaning to turn over or flip, to turn around, to reverse, or to change to an opposite.

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

「適得其反」由四個漢字組成。其中「適」字包含表示「走走停停」的意符「辵」，而「辵」又由表示「緩慢行走」的「彳」與表示「腳」的「止」所構成；「適」字同時也包含表示讀音的「啻」。其餘組成的字分別為「得」（意為獲得、取得）、「其」（意為他的、她的、它的或他們的）以及「反」（意為翻轉、倒轉、改變或轉向相反的方向）。

從字面結構來看，此詞彙結合了「適」、「得」、「其」與「反」四個字，用以描述行為或結果走向了與預期截然不同的方向。

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

Lineage

  • characterChinese適 “to go; to proceed (to a place)”
    • meaningChinese辵 “to walk for a while and be still for a while”
      • ideaChinese彳 “to walk slowly”
      • ideaChinese止 “foot”
    • soundChinese啻 “only; just”
  • characterChinese得 “to get; to obtain; to gain, to acquire”
  • characterChinese其 “his; her; its; their”
  • characterChinese反 “to turn over or flip; to turn around; to reverse; to change to an opposite position”
Wiktionary etymology text

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

Meanings

phrase
  1. to run counter to one's desire; to have the exact opposite effect of what one wished; to backfire

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 結果與原先的期望恰好相反。 例：對小孩管教太嚴，有時候會適得其反，反而使他們更加叛逆。

© 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