黐线

黐線
chīxiàn
adjective

Meanings

  1. 1 (Cantonese slang) crazy; nuts; off one's rocker
  2. 2 lit. crossed wires

Examples

Nǐ chīxiàn a? Zhè zhǒng shì dōu gǎn zuò!
Are you nuts? You actually dared to do that?
Tā zuìjìn yālì tài dà, yǒudiǎn chīxiàn.
He's been under so much pressure lately he's gone a little loopy.

Tips

register
Cantonese (chi1 sin3, means 'sticky / stuck'). The image is wires that have stuck or crossed inside the head. Common in HK films and TVB dramas; in Mandarin contexts use 神经 (shénjīng) or (fēng le) instead.
memory
Think of an old switchboard with 'crossed lines' — that's literally what 黐线 means: your mental wires got tangled.

Stroke Order

chī
线 xiàn