There are lot of cool things in Chinese vocabulary, from forwards-backwards words to the physical shape of characters being used to express meaning. Another interesting type of vocabulary in Chinese is opposites words.
These words work by putting two opposite concepts side by side to express some sort of encompassing concept. Often each part of the word indicates one end of a spectrum, and the whole word refers to the spectrum as a whole. I’m compiling a list of these words here (in no particular order).
真假 zhēnjiǎ true - false veracity
长短 chángduǎn long - short length
沉浮 chénfú sink - float ebb and flow
粗细 cūxì thick - thin thickness
大小 dàxiǎo big - small size
东西 dōngxi east - west thing
动静 dòngjìng move - still activity
多少 duōshǎo many - few how many
方圆 fāngyuán square - round circumference
否则 fǒuzé not so - so if not
刚柔 gāngróu hard - soft yin and yang
高低 gāodī high - low height
黑白 hēibái black - white monochrome
水火 shuǐhuǒ water - fire disaster
水土 shuǐtǔ water - soil natural environment
吞吐 tūntǔ swallow - spit to churn through
先后 xiānhòu first - after in order
虚实 xūshí empty - real the real situation
缓急 huǎnjí unhurried - urgent priority
进退 jìntuì advance - retreat sense of propriety
快慢 kuàimàn fast - slow speed
宽窄 kuānzhǎi wide - narrow width
来去 láiqù come - go comings and goings
老少 lǎoshào old - young all ages
男女 nánnǚ male - female male and female
胖瘦 pàngshòu fat - thin fat and thin
起落 qǐluò rise - fall rise and fall
前后 qiánhòu before - after beginning to end
轻重 qīngzhòng light - heavy severity
曲直 qūzhí crooked - straight right and wrong
善恶 shàn'è good - evil good vs evil
上下 shàngxià up - down top and bottom
阴阳 yīnyáng yin - yang yinyang
涨缩 zhǎngsuō rise - fall fluctuation
正反 zhèngfǎn right - reverse pros and cons
左右 zuǒyòu left - right approximately
胜负 shèngfù victory - defeat outcome of a battle
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