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剃头挑子一头热

tì tóu tiāo zi yī tóu rèdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. only one end of the barber's pole is hot (idiom) / fig. one-sided enthusiasm / one party is interested, but the other, not so much / (Note: In former days, street barbers carried their equipment on a pole, with tools and a stool at one end and a brazier at the other.)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-f4f4ad19b0dbeb1b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

剃頭挑子一頭熱 剃头挑子一头热 [ti4 tou2 tiao1 zi5 yi1 tou2 re4] /lit. only one end of the barber's pole is hot (idiom)/fig. one-sided enthusiasm/one party is interested, but the other, not so much/(Note: In former days, street barbers carried their equipment on a pole, with tools and a stool at one end and a brazier at the other.)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 剃頭挑子一頭熱

  • 剃
    tì

    to shave / shave / to weed

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

  • 挑
    tiāo

    to carry on a shoulder pole / to choose / to pick / to nitpick

    tiǎo

    to raise / to dig up / to poke / to prick / to incite / to stir up

  • 子
    zǐ

    son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-

    zi

    noun suffix, as in 椅子[yǐ zi] "chair"

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 头
    tóu

    head / hair style / the top / end / beginning or end / a stub / remnant / chief / boss / side / aspect / first / leading / classifier for pigs or livestock / CL:個|个[gè]

    tou

    suffix for nouns

  • 热
    rè

    to warm up / to heat up / hot (of weather) / heat / fervent

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.