| 初刻拍案惊奇 |
Chū kè Pāi àn Jīng qí |
Slapping the Table in Amazement (Part I), first of two books of vernacular stories by Ming dynasty novelist Ling Mengchu 凌蒙初 |
| 初 |
chū |
(bound form) at first; initially / (bound form) first; early / (bound form) (in lunar calendar dates, before numerals 1–10) days 1 to 10 of a month, as in 初三 "the third" |
| 刻 |
kè |
quarter (hour) / moment / to carve / to engrave / to cut / oppressive / classifier for short time intervals |
| 拍 |
pāi |
to pat / to clap / to slap / to swat / to take (a photo) / to shoot (a film) / racket (sports) / beat (music) |
| 拍案 |
pāi àn |
lit. to slap the table (in amazement, praise, anger, resentment etc) / fig. astonishing!, wonderful!, dreadful! etc |
| 拍案惊奇 |
pāi àn jīng qí |
to slap the table in amazement (idiom); wonderful! / amazing! |
| 案 |
àn |
(legal) case / incident / record / file / table |
| 惊 |
jīng |
to startle / to be frightened / to be scared / alarm |
| 惊奇 |
jīng qí |
to be amazed / to be surprised / to wonder |
| 奇 |
jī |
odd (number) |
| 奇 |
qí |
strange / odd / weird / wonderful / surprisingly / unusually |