Catch Phrase | 截胡(jiéhú)

Writer: Debra Li  |  Editor: Stephanie Yang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2022-01-04

Meaning:

This term has its origin in Mahjong, a popular Chinese board game. “截” means “to intercept,” and “胡” means “to win a Mahjong game,” by getting all 14 of your tiles into four sets and one pair or several special hands of arrangement. If more than one player can claim a discarded tile to win a game, only the person sitting nearest to the player who discarded the tile in the counterclockwise sequence will be considered the winner. Such a scenario means the other players who had the opportunity to win are deprived of victory, and have their victory “intercepted.” The term is a metaphor for “robbing another person’s victory just before they were about to succeed.”

Example:

A: 你弟弟追到那个女生了吗?

Nǐ dìdi zhuīdào nàge nǚshēng le ma?

Did your younger brother win the heart of that girl?

B: 没有,他天天接送她去公司,但被一个她的新同事截胡了。

Méiyǒu ,tā tiāntiān jiēsòng tā qù gōngsī,dàn bèi yīge tāde xīn tóngshì jiéhú le。

No. He used to driver her to and from her office every day. But a newcomer in her company won her favor before my brother could.