📖 Meaning
Refers to men and women who are deeply infatuated with romantic love, often to the point of losing their senses or judgment. The idiom captures the universal human condition of being hopelessly lovesick, where passion overrides reason.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom first appears in the 'New Moon Rhapsody' (新月赋) by Xu Xuan (徐铉), a scholar-official of the Song dynasty. In the piece, he describes young lovers with radiant faces and tender years, delighting in the spring scenery and climbing terraces to gaze at the moon. The phrase later gained wider currency in Qing dynasty poetry, notably in Xu Angfa's (徐昂发) 'Palace Lyrics' (宫词), where he muses on the countless romantic dramas of the world, noting that such lovesick souls never truly grasp the deeper truths.
💡 Example Usage
騣女痴男，总为情字所困。
Foolish women and infatuated men are always trapped by the word 'love'.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 騣女痴男
- Pinyin: ái nǚ chī nán
- Literal Translation: foolish woman, infatuated man
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4