小黑屋

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	black; dark; Heilongjiang Province (abbrev.)	house; room
simp. and trad. (小黑屋)		小	黑	屋

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiǎohēiwū

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄏㄟ ㄨ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎohēiwū
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄏㄟ ㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎoheiwu
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-hei¹-wu¹
    • Yale: syǎu-hēi-wū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheauheiu
    • Palladius: сяохэйу (sjaoxɛju)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xeɪ̯⁵⁵ u⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎohēiwūr
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄏㄟ ㄨㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siǎoheiwur
    • Wade–Giles: hsiao³-hei¹-wu¹-ʼrh
    • Yale: syǎu-hēi-wūr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheauheiul
    • Palladius: сяохэйур (sjaoxɛjur)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xeɪ̯⁵⁵ uɻʷ⁵⁵/

Noun

小黑屋

1. (often humorous) a “small black room” where one is confined (in order to reflect on their wrongdoing, etc.)
2. (slang) a room for secondary inspection and questioning at a port of entry

   • 許先生說，他解釋半天，表示他們只是來旅遊，最後海關放行他們兩人，但是第三人黃小姐卻被問了幾個問題後直接帶進「小黑屋」 [MSC, trad.]
     许先生说，他解释半天，表示他们只是来旅游，最后海关放行他们两人，但是第三人黄小姐却被问了几个问题后直接带进「小黑屋」 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2017, 新华网, 持十年美签仍被关“小黑屋”？不能太频繁

     xǔ xiānshēng shuō, tā jiěshì bàntiān, biǎoshì tāmen zhǐshì lái lǚyóu, zuìhòu hǎiguān fàngxíng tāmen liǎng rén, dànshì dìsānrén huáng xiǎojiě què bèi wèn le jǐge wèntí hòu zhíjiē dàijìn “xiǎohēiwū” [Pinyin]

     Mr. Xu said that he explained [to the CBP officer] for a long time that they were only here for tourism, and the customs finally let two of them go, but the third person, Ms. Huang, was brought directly into the "little black house" after being asked a few questions."

3. (American (1980–), slang) a real-estate property that is overpriced, aging and in bad condition

   • 親歷硅谷終極「搶房戰」：瘋狂加價30萬還排不上，「小黑屋」被炒成天價 [MSC, trad.]
     亲历硅谷终极「抢房战」：疯狂加价30万还排不上，「小黑屋」被炒成天价 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2021, 界面新闻, [1]

     qīnlì guīgǔ zhōngjí “qiǎngfáng zhàn”: fēngkuáng jiājià 30 wàn hái pái bùshàng, “xiǎohēiwū” bèi chǎo chéng tiānjià [Pinyin]

     Experience the ultimate "price war on houses" in Silicon Valley of my own: a crazy increase of $300,000 was even not up to the list, and the prices of "little black houses" were speculated to be sky-high.