泡汤

[Pedroski]

于是赶紧到行李查询处询问，凭着有限的英语终于把手续办完了，被告知要等第二天下午一航班到达才有希望见到我的行李。

 

在下边这个句子里的‘泡汤’是什么意思？

 

没有任何换洗衣物，等二天整整一上午只能守在酒店里，下午行李终于到了，可是这一天的行程也泡汤了。

 

这里‘泡汤’ = ‘迟到’或者‘希望落空’吗？

[MPhillips]

泡汤 is similar to 希望落空。 “…… 可是这一天的行程也泡汤了。” / … but my travel plans for the day went down the drain/out the window/up in smoke.

[zyx199199]

something 泡汤= something will not happen

行程泡汤= things I scheduled in my itinerary will not happen

[Pedroski]

Thanks. I suppose "My itinerary is bubbly broth" is not a good translation??     How did 'bubble soup' ever come to mean 'slow, dawdle', or 'bad, gone wrong'?

[skylee]

泡 here does not mean bubble. It means soak(ed).

PS - 湯 here does not mean soup either. It means water (hot).

[MPhillips]

As in 泡茶， 泡妞 & 泡酒巴 !

[Pedroski]

My intinerary is 'soaked in hot water' = ruined??

 

泡 www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=泡 He says 'bubbles'

[MPhillips]

It's also a verb meaning “to soak" or "to steep"as in 泡茶 "to steep/to make tea". There are also amusing slang terms like 泡妞 & 泡酒巴。

[zyx199199]

According to 百度百科http://wapbaike.baidu.com/view/803908.htm?adapt=1&the word 泡汤 originally came from salt manufacturers and merchants. They were afraid of heavy rain which would soak the salt. Then the word spread to other businesses to indicate plans fail or money is lost.

[Pedroski]

Thanks for that! Very interesting, I really like to know where these meanings come from!

 

But I have another theory about 泡：as you know, the Chinese invented everything first.

 

泡 = 水 + 包， so that  泡茶 = water bag tea actually means 'teabag'! So, not only did the Chinese invent tea first, but they also invented the teabag, which, as we all know, must be 'soaked' in the 热水, and in time, 泡 assimilated this meaning of soak = put a (tea) bag in water.

 

The famous Tetley teabags, so proudly thought of as from Yorkshire, are actually named after 特特类 = very special kind (of tea)

 

Another ancient mystery solved! 不用谢！

[imron]

泡 www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=泡 He says 'bubbles'

Words and characters can have multiple meanings.  This is especially so with the passage of time.  'Bubbles' is one meaning of this character.

 

This is also illustrative of why learning words is more useful than learning characters. As a word, the meaning of 泡汤 is relatively clear and well defined.  As characters, 'bubble soap' is meaningless and confusing.

 

 

 

泡 = 水 + 包， so that  泡茶 = water bag tea actually means 'teabag'

You should read the legend of Jamie and his magic spoon (don't forget to read the previous posts for context).

[Pedroski]

Well, I'll stick with 'in the clear light of the rising sun, you can plainly see what is in your spoon' as a metaphor for any state or condition achieved and so visible to all, and thus its use as an adjectivisor par excellence.

[skylee]

as you know, the Chinese invented everything first.

Sometimes it was the Korean.

[Su Haifeng]

泡汤 means hope dashed to pieces. It is a negative word. 

[MPhillips]

Hi, Su Haifeng! Welcome to the forum!