解手

Chinese

 
to loosen; to untie; to explain
to loosen; to untie; to explain; to remove; to divide; to dissolve; to solve; solution; send under escort
hand; convenient; ‑er
trad. (解手)
simp. #(解手)
Literally: “untie oneself's hands”.

Etymology

“to defecate or urinate”
From 解溲 (jiěsōu) (Luo, 1997).
Folk etymology connects this to forced migration in early Ming dynasty, where people were tied up and sent to different provinces under escort. It was said that they needed to say this phrase to let the guards untie for them when they wanted to go to toilet.

Pronunciation


Verb

解手

  1. (euphemistic, colloquial) to relieve oneself; to defecate or urinate
  2. (archaic) to part; to become separated

Synonyms

Noun

解手

  1. (archaic) way to relieve a crisis
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