乒乓
Chinese
| bing (onomat.) | bang (onomat.) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (乒乓) |
乒 | 乓 | |
Etymology
A similar-sounding onomatopoeia to the source character 兵 (bīng, “soldier”). First attested in Ming Dynasty and referred to the sound of collisions (for example, in 西遊記／西游记 (Xīyóujì, “Journey to the West”)). Later used as a translation of English ping pong.
Pronunciation
Noun
乒乓
- (onomatopoeia) Sound of collision; the sound made from the impact of an object.
- 忽擡頭，只見方丈門外有一個石獅子，卻就舉起棍來，乒乓一下，打得粉亂麻碎。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: Wu Cheng'en, Journey to the West, 16th century CE
- Hū táitóu, zhǐ jiàn fāngzhàng ménwài yǒu yīge shíshīzǐ, què jiù jǔqǐ gùn lái, pīngpāng yīxià, dǎ de fěnluànmásuì. [Pinyin]
- Suddenly raising his head, all he saw was that outside the abbot's room's doors there was a stone guardian lion, but he just raised his stick, and with a clatter, smashed it into pieces.
忽抬头，只见方丈门外有一个石狮子，却就举起棍来，乒乓一下，打得粉乱麻碎。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
- (～球) table tennis; ping pong
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 乒乓球 (“table tennis; ping pong”) [map]
Derived terms
References
- 西遊記 第十回 老龍王拙計犯天條 魏丞相遺書託冥吏, earliest usage of the term in Journey to the West
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