嬉笑怒骂

嬉笑怒罵
xīxiào-nùmà
idiom #54,904

Meanings

  1. 1 laughter, anger, mockery, abuse — every register
  2. 2 to handle any subject and turn it into art
  3. 3 to mock and scold freely

Examples

Lǔxùn de zá wén xīxiàonùmà, jiē chéngwén zhāng.
Lu Xun's essays turn laughter, anger and invective all into good writing.
Tā xīxiàonùmà de fěngcì le nàxiē guānliáo.
He mocked and railed at those bureaucrats in every tone.

Tips

history
From Huang Tingjian's tribute to Su Shi: 嬉笑怒骂成文 — praising Su's ability to turn any emotional register into literature. Still invoked for versatile satirists.

Stroke Order

xiào