What does 一把 mean in 害我郁闷了一把?

[anonymoose]

I found this phrase here:

害我郁闷了一把

一把 is clearly a measure word for 郁闷, but what does it imply? For example, does is minimise the extent (like 一下), or does it imply a large extent, or something else?

Is this use of 一把 something that can be widely used, or is it just a set collocation with 郁闷?

[xiaocai]

Unusual measure words (or combinations) some times are used for their humorous effect. Some people may disagree this kind of styles, but It is quite popular among young people.

[prateeksha]

Probably unrelated, but I came across this sentence in my 听力 book.

你一把年纪了，穿这样一身大红的绸子衣服，也不想害臊

I asked a Chinese friend to explain and she said here this 一把 signifies 年纪很大. That was pretty obvious from the context, anyway. What I wanted to know was if this 一把 can be used in some other situation as well? What other uses does this 一把 have?

[chestnut818]

I think “一把” here is like "一下" , but the time is more longer than "一下", we can also use as：

这件事让我难过了一把。

这个消息让我高兴了一把。

[David Wong]

I tend to agree with chestnut818. It's easy to do that because his/her Chinese is at "Native" level. Ha ha.

I think "一把" here implies something more significant or of a longer duration than "一下". I have seen it used in different contexts - the tricky ones are where it's paired with something intangible. When used with tangible things I take it to be a conventional measure word.

Then there's this other example I came across on nciku which means something different again: "能帮忙就帮忙吧，何必故意拿一把？" This could be related to "一把死拿“ but I'm not completely sure.

[Kenny同志]

Is this use of 一把 something that can be widely used, or is it just a set collocation with 郁闷?

一把 in this sense is quite informal and seems to used with feelings/emotions often, i.e. 伤心, 难过, 爽, 高兴, 乐, 郁闷, 怒(less common).

Other common phrases include 火了一把.

I’ve noticed that this particular usage is not in the fifth edition of 现代汉语词典 but it’s so common that I think it should go into the dictionary.

[anonymoose]

Thanks a lot for all the information, particularly chestnut818 and kenny.

[Kenny同志]

No problem, Anonymoose!

[anonymoose]

So is it the case that 一把 implies a strong feeling of the emotion? For example, would 伤心一把 mean something like 非常伤心一段时间 or 有点伤心一段时间?

[Kenny同志]

I'd say it indicates a bit longer duration than 一下. And in the case of 赚了一把 it means quite a lot of money.

个人意见，仅供参考。

[semantic nuance]

In addition, read the different usages of 一把 here.

Hope it helps!

[anonymoose]

懂了 谢谢

[Mindmaxd]

Sometimes we also say 再来一把，it means once again,When you finish one round Dota you and then you wanna another round you can say 我再来一把，I will start another round.

[anonymoose]

Round of what?

[danny1997]

The use of 一把 following emotion is a way of casual saying to express "for a while". It is more like a 口头禅 than any meaningful word.

I don't use this kind of expression often and don't like very much people using it, except in very informal situation (ex: in forums or weibo) or by the young people.

[danny1997]

@anonymoose

For example : round of 掷骰子 : throw the dice;

We can say : 再来一把 to play again.

[laurenth]

A few days ago, I came accross this sentence in the book I'm reading ( 圈子圈套, part I, p. 187):

"他钢才看见金总的身影就过来请金总去听维西尔的介绍会，完全是抓住时机搏一把。。。"

Can I consider that this is yet another instance of 一把 used to mean "something more significant or of a longer duration than 一下"? Or maybe it is somewhat similar to 一次 or 一番 (like in 再来一把)?

Does it mean something like "it was entirely a matter of seizing the opportunity and fight a bit / fight for it"?

[David Wong]

As I understand it, 抓一把means grab a handful, or simply grab or seize.

[laurenth]

Ah, thanks David, I can see it in my dictionary now "抓一把: take a handful". However, I don't understand why there's a 搏 inserted here.

[anonymoose]

I can see it in my dictionary now "抓一把: take a handful". However, I don't understand why there's a 搏 inserted here.

Because the 一把 here is not related to the 抓.

搏一把, as far as I can make out, means something like, "have a fight (for something)" or "struggle (for something)".