街头巷尾

街頭巷尾

jiētóu-xiàngwěi

idiom #38,598

Meanings

1 streets and alleys (idiom)
2 everywhere in the city
3 on every street corner

Characters

Examples

HSK 3

街头巷尾都在讨论这场比赛。

Jiētóu-xiàngwěi dōu zài tǎolùn zhè chǎng bǐsài.

The whole town, corner to corner, was debating the match.

HSK 5

这首歌在街头巷尾广为流传。

Zhè shǒu gē zài jiētóu-xiàngwěi guǎngwéi liúchuán.

This song spread to every street corner.

HSK 7-9

这件事成了街头巷尾的谈资。

Zhè jiàn shì chéng le jiētóu-xiàngwěi de tánzī.

The matter became the talk of every street and alley.

Tips

history

From 《五灯会元》 (Song-dynasty Chan Buddhist text): a monk answers the question 'where is the student's place of transformation?' with 街头巷尾 - 'the ends of the streets, the ends of the alleys' - meaning 'anywhere, in ordinary life.' The Chan disavowal of grand sacred spaces gave the idiom its 'ordinary everywhere' flavor.

usage

Usually modifies things that spread through a community by word of mouth: gossip, news, songs, phrases. Think of it as the pre-internet equivalent of 'trending everywhere.'

Stroke Order

街 jiē

头 tóu

巷 xiàng

尾 wěi