📖 Meaning
Refers to all the streets and alleys of a town or city. It describes every corner of a populated area, from main thoroughfares to narrow lanes. It is a variant of the more common idiom "街头巷尾" (jiē tóu xiàng wěi).
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is composed of two common spatial compounds: "街头" (the head or beginning of a street) and "巷底" (the bottom or end of an alley). Together they encompass the full extent of urban pathways, suggesting everywhere people live and gather. No specific literary source is recorded; it arose as a colloquial variant of "街头巷尾," swapping the near-synonymous directional words "尾" (tail/end) and "底" (bottom) to convey the same idea. It is commonly used to describe how news, rumors, or everyday life pervade a community.
💡 Example Usage
消息很快传遍街头巷底，人人都在议论这件事。
The news quickly spread through every street and alley, and everyone was talking about it.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 街头巷底
- Pinyin: jiē tóu xiàng dǐ
- Literal Translation: street, head, alley, bottom
- Category: Distance
- Characters: 4