千叮万嘱

千叮萬囑
qiāndīngwànzhǔ
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to urge/instruct over and over again
  2. 2 to repeat warnings countless times

Examples

Māma qiāndīngwànzhǔ ràng wǒ lùshang xiǎoxīn.
Mom told me over and over again to be careful on the road.
Lǎoshī qiāndīngwànzhǔ wǒmen bié wàng le dài zhǔnkǎozhèng.
The teacher repeatedly reminded us not to forget our admission tickets.

Tips

history
Xinhua traces the phrase to Yuan-dynasty playwright Yang Xianzhi's 《》 (Act 4): 千叮万嘱长号 — 'I warned you a thousand times, yet you let him cry his heart out anyway.'
memory
(thousand) + (ten thousand) bracket (urge) and (instruct) — the sheer scale numbers make the idiom sound exasperated, like a parent repeating themselves for the hundredth time.

Stroke Order

qiān
dīng
wàn
zhǔ