About
The character "啧", traditionally written as "嘖", is structurally composed of the mouth radical "口" paired with the component "責", which historically provided phonetic guidance while loosely relating to vocal expression. Its early usage in classical literature often conveyed the sense of noisy debate or contentious speech, but over centuries its meaning refined to specifically denote the sharp click of the tongue made in response to emotion. This semantic narrowing led to its predominant modern application in the reduplicated form "啧啧", an interjection that captures sounds ranging from disapproval and annoyance to admiration or surprise, marking a transition from describing discursive argument to representing a succinct, non-lexical vocalization.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
他做的菜让人啧啧称赞。
观众们对魔术表演啧啧称奇。
看到她浪费食物，他啧啧了两声。
这部小说的文笔，实在令人啧服。
对于这个设计缺陷，专家啧有烦言。
他啧了一声，表达自己的不满。
品味这幅画的细节，值得啧啧玩味。
面对如此复杂的局面，他也只能啧叹一声。