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Mandarin Vocabulary Blog

A blog by buanryoh in General

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Word of the Day 25/7/10 歇斯底里

buanryoh

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歇斯底里

Hysteria, Hysterical

According to Nciku this word is a noun, however a quick glance at google search results will tell you that this word often finds itself acting as an adverb:

昨天她和一个售货员歇斯底里地大吵了一顿。

Yesterday she argued hysterically with a salesman.

歇斯底里 can also be used as an adjective or verb:

有时候很歇斯底里不知道怎么了

很歇斯底里

Can you think of any synonyms of this word?

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5 Comments

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semantic nuance

semantic nuance 119

Posted

莫名其妙 and 翻臉不認人 and 翻臉比翻書還快. But they are slightly different in contexts.

GaHanna

GaHanna 19

Posted

I would be very careful using the word hysterical. Etymologically speaking.

buanryoh

buanryoh 10

Posted

I am aware it means 子宫 in ancient Greek. But how many native English speakers know that or think of womb when they use the word?

GaHanna

GaHanna 19

Posted

You are right, not too many, except those who take exception to the use of a word that they deem as sexist. Please note that I posted "I would be very careful".

buanryoh

buanryoh 10

Posted

You are right, not too many, except those who take exception to the use of a word that they deem as sexist. Please note that I posted "I would be very careful".

I'm glad you mentioned it as I'm very interested in the etymology of English words as well.

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