Chinese word

泼冷水

Pronunciation

Pinyinpō lěng shuǐ

Meaning

  • verbpour cold water on

Example

别再泼冷水了，我们要试试。bié zài pō léng shuǐ le wǒ men yào shì shì

Don't pour cold water on us anymore; we want to give it a try.

Illustration for 泼冷水 (pour cold water on)

More examples

他的批评把大家的积极性都泼冷水了。tā de pī píng bǎ dà jiā de jī jí xìng dōu pō léng shuǐ le

His criticism poured cold water on everyone's enthusiasm.

Core concept

A splash of cold water knocks the heat out of an eager person or plan.

Common phrases

  • 当众泼冷水dāng zhòng pō léng shuǐ

    pour cold water on someone in public

  • 给计划泼冷水gěi jì huà pō léng shuǐ

    pour cold water on a plan

Similar words

泼凉水pō liáng shuǐ: Dampen excitement about a proposal or expectation through negative words or an unsupportive attitude.
扫兴sǎo xìng: Spoil someone's enjoyment or happy mood and leave them disappointed.
吹冷风chuī lěng fēng: Hold back someone's motivation or expectations with cold, discouraging words or an attitude.

Definition in Chinese

把冷水泼到人或事物上；引申为用言语或行为使别人的热情或计划冷却。bǎ léng shuǐ pō dào rén huò shì wù shàng yǐn shēn wèi yòng yán yǔ huò xíng wéi shǐ bié rén de rè qíng huò jì huà lěng què

Word origin

泼 (pō, "splash") + 冷 (lěng, "cold") + 水 (shuǐ, "water") forms a literal scene in which cold water cuts short excitement, which develops into the figurative verb.

Usage tips

  • For everyday conversation, this verb usually signals a negative reaction to enthusiasm, so it can sound sharper than the neutral English verb "disagree".

Other meanings

  • discourageverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word