禍水
Chinese edit
disaster | water; river | ||
---|---|---|---|
trad. (禍水) | 禍 | 水 | |
simp. (祸水) | 祸 | 水 | |
Literally: “water of calamity”. |
Etymology edit
Originally used to describe Empress Xiaocheng (Zhao Feiyan), an empress during the Han dynasty, in the erotic fiction Feiyan Waizhuan.
Empress Xiaocheng was known for her slender build, also giving rise partly to the idiom 環肥燕瘦 (literally “plump Huan, slender Fei”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
禍水
- (figurative) charming beauty, as a source of calamity; femme fatale
- (figurative, in general) person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering; scourge; vicious power; bane