A bad day word: Chinese idiom 哀声叹气

If you’re a sports fan, think about the day that your team lost big in the arena. If you’re a student, think about the day you failed an important exam. If you have a job, think about the day your boss unfairly blamed everything on you. Those are the bad days, you felt depressed and sighed a lot. You held your head low and lost your spirit.

That is exactly the picture that a Chinese idiom 哀声叹气 (āi shēng tàn qì) describes. Literally it means “moan and sigh in despair”. It is used to describe the depressed and low status of people.

You’ll see how I use it in the three aforementioned situations in the following examples:

 

    tā yīnwèi Déguó duì zàishì jiè bēi shū le bǐsài, yī zhěngtiān dōu āi shēng tànqì de.

    他因为德国队在世界杯输了比赛, 一整天都哀声叹气的.

    He was all depressed that day because Germany lost in the world cup.
    1. ai-sheng-tan-qi-e1

    

    xiǎo sūn āi shēng tànqì dì shuō: ” āi! wǒ de Zhōngwén kǎoshì méiyǒu jígé…”

    小孙哀声叹气地说: “哎! 我的中文考试没有及格…”

    I was all depressed the whole day since I failed my Chinese exam.
    2. ai-sheng-tan-qi-e2

 

Can you use this expression in your own Chinese conversation as well? Go tell your friend a story that you did 哀声叹气. Or you can tell me in the comment area …