应卯

應卯

yìngmǎo

verb

Meanings

1 to answer the morning roll call (5-7 am)
2 to make a token appearance
3 to show up for the sake of formality

Characters

respond, answer

4th earthly branch (5-7 am)

Examples

他每天去办公室只是应卯而已。

Tā měitiān qù bàngōngshì zhǐshì yìngmǎo éryǐ.

He goes to the office every day just to put in a token appearance.

这次会议我去应个卯就走。

Zhè cì huìyì wǒ qù yìng gè mǎo jiù zǒu.

I'll show my face at this meeting and then leave.

Tips

history

卯 (mǎo) is the 4th of the twelve earthly branches, marking 5-7 am. In Ming and Qing dynasties, government clerks had to answer roll call (点卯) at this hour. Today the term lives on as 'showing up just to be counted', divorced from the early morning.

Stroke Order

应 yīng

卯 mǎo