shī yǔ
Meaning
to suffer from aphasia
to make a slip of the tongue
to lose one's voice (be silenced)
Explanation
Refers to medical 'aphasia' (language impairment due to brain damage). It also means to accidentally make a slip of the tongue, or in a social context, to lose one's voice or be silenced.
Antonyms
Derivatives
Easily confused
Etymology
From 'to lose' (失, shī) + 'speech/words' (语, yǔ). Literally, to lose one's speech.
Memory tips
Think of it as losing (失) one's words/speech (语), which leads to 'aphasia' or 'making a slip of the tongue'.
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