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街头巷尾

街頭巷尾
jiētóuxiàngwěi
idiom #38,598

Meanings

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

Examples

这件事成了街头巷尾的谈资。
Zhè jiàn shì chéng le jiētóuxiàngwěi de tánzī.
The matter became the talk of every street and alley.
街头巷尾都在讨论这场比赛。
Jiētóuxiàngwěi dōu zài tǎolùn zhè chǎng bǐsài.
The whole town, corner to corner, was debating the match.
这首歌在街头巷尾广为流传。
Zhè shǒu gē zài jiētóuxiàngwěi guǎng wéi liúchuán.
This song spread to every street corner.

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