泼冷水
pō lěng shuǐ · HSK 7
fig. to dampen one's enthusiasm
🚿❄️ 泼 splash + 冷 cold + 水 water = splash cold water, i.e. kill the buzz
Literal compound: 泼 (to splash/pour) + 冷 (cold) + 水 (water). Figuratively, splashing cold water on someone douses their excitement or enthusiasm, the way English says to throw cold water on an idea.
泼 — water radical 氵 + 发 (fā, send out)
泼 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning, while 发 suggests the sound. Originally it depicted water being thrown or splashed out, which extended to mean 'to splash, spill, or pour out.' Today it also carries the figurative sense of being lively or rude/unreasonable.
冷 — ice radical 冫 + order 令
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 冫 (ice) supplies the meaning of coldness, while 令 (lìng, 'command/order') hints at the pronunciation. Originally referring to the chill of ice, 冷 broadened to mean cold in general, and figuratively cool, indifferent, or detached.
水 — pictograph of flowing water
水 is a pictograph depicting a stream of flowing water, with the central line representing the main current and the side strokes showing splashing droplets or ripples. In oracle bone script it was drawn even more clearly as a wavy vertical line with branches. It retains its original meaning of 'water' and also serves as a radical, often appearing in the compressed form 氵.