吃惊
chī jīng · HSK 4
to be startled
😲 吃惊 = eat (吃) + alarm (惊); shock so sudden you 'eat' it
吃 means eat; 惊 means alarm or fright. The compound treats shock like something swallowed — startlement hits before you can react. English parallel: to 'swallow' surprising news.
吃 — mouth 口 + beg 乞
A semantic-phonetic compound: 口 (mouth) gives the meaning 'to eat,' while 乞 (qǐ, 'to beg') hints at the sound. The original character for 'eat' was 喫; 吃 first meant 'to stutter' but was later adopted as the standard simplified form for 'to eat.'
惊 — horse 马 + respect 敬 (phonetic)
Originally written 驚 with 馬 (horse) as the meaning component and 敬 as the phonetic, depicting a horse startled or frightened. The simplified form 惊 replaces 馬 with 忄 (heart radical), shifting the imagery to a startled mind. The core meaning is to be alarmed, surprised, or shocked.