<blockquote>
<p>The term '临床' means &quot;in front of the patient's bed or operation bed &quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><p>'临' (facing/ in front of)</p>
</li>
<li><p>'床' ( bed) here refers to '手术床'(operation bed) or 病床 (patient's bed)</p>
</li>
<li><p>'临床经验' means 'clinical experience'</p>
</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>The term '东床' came from the idiom 东床快婿,</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The story of <a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%9C%E5%BA%8A%E5%BF%AB%E5%A9%BF" rel="nofollow noreferrer">东床快婿</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>郄鉴 heard the sons of 王导 were all handsome gentleman. So, he wanted to marry his daughter to one of them. For that very reason, 郄鉴 sent a messenger to 王导's house to observe the young men in 王导's household in order to select one of them to be his son-in-law.</p>
<p>The messenger reported to 郄鉴 that all of them were pleasant gentleman and showed him great respect -- except for one.  There was one bare-chested young man lay there in a bed on the east side of the room,  ignoring all the commotion. 郄鉴 decided this bare-chested young man on the East-side bed was the finest young man among 王导's sons, and should be the husband of his daughter.</p>
<p>That bare-chested man on the East bed turned out to be the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Xizhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">王羲之</a> (Wang Xizhi).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That's the story of how '东床' (East bed) became a symbol of &quot;worthy son-in-law&quot;</p>
<ul>
<li>in '东床快婿', '东床'(East bed)= '快婿'( a pleasant son-in-law)</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T04:58:50.967Z
2017-07-24T05:07:41.123Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>Tang Ho has basically answered this already, I’ll just give what I have.</p>
<p>临床 is the same as the English <em>bedside</em> as in <em>bedside manner</em> of doctors.</p>
<p>东床 is explained in A Chinese-English dictionary as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>NOUN</p>
<p>eastern bed—son-in-law (from an anecdote about the celebrated calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (321-379), who as a young man remained eating bare chested on the eastern bed when an official came to choose a son-in-law for the minister's daughter, and who was selected for his independence of mind over his well-behaved brothers)</p>
<p>东床快婿</p>
<p>dōngchuángkuàixù</p>
<p>a good son-in-law</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, yes, as you said 床 just means <em>bed</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T06:21:44.623Z
2017-07-24T06:21:44.623Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Mou某
<p>床 is bed, on which people sleep or lie.</p>
<p>But 临床 has the connection with medical profession and 东床 seems to be in relation to in-laws, but why is so? Because these two do not have any express features of sleeping or work which needs to be done in bed.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T03:50:15.140Z
床 bkrs：bed, couch; framework, chassis e。g。车床 lathe; turning machine; turning lathe; turning mill:东床（女婿） son-in-law cf。bkrs：  **坦腹东床**  ：旧作女婿的美称：be a worthy son-in-law of sb.
1) ideal son-in-law
2) lie in bed with bared belly。临床{医} clinical:接触病人, 诊治疾病 （close to bed on which there is a patient)
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T04:27:16.917Z
Thanks, but you haven't told me the reason why it is so. Why is a son-in-law called something in relation to a bed? Is that bed his position to stay at home or what?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-07-24T06:11:14.673Z
evidently 坦腹东床 describes modest unassuming behavior characterizing ideal son-in-law, web search will yield further explanation https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%9D%A6%E8%85%B9%E4%B8%9C%E5%BA%8A
user6065
<meaning-in-context>
How is 床 related to 临床 and 东床?
# How is 床 related to 临床 and 东床?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-07-24)

床 is bed, on which people sleep or lie.

But 临床 has the connection with medical profession and 东床 seems to be in relation to in-laws, but why is so? Because these two do not have any express features of sleeping or work which needs to be done in bed.

**Tags:** meaning-in-context

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 床 bkrs：bed, couch; framework, chassis e。g。车床 lathe; turning machine; turning lathe; turning mill:东床（女婿） son-in-law cf。bkrs：  **坦腹东床**  ：旧作女婿的美称：be a worthy son-in-law of sb. 1) ideal son-in-law 2) lie in bed with bared belly。临床{医} clinical:接触病人, 诊治疾病 （close to bed on which there is a patient)  
> **username_0**: Thanks, but you haven't told me the reason why it is so. Why is a son-in-law called something in relation to a bed? Is that bed his position to stay at home or what?  
> **username_1**: evidently 坦腹东床 describes modest unassuming behavior characterizing ideal son-in-law, web search will yield further explanation https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%9D%A6%E8%85%B9%E4%B8%9C%E5%BA%8A  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-07-24. Score: 4

> The term '临床' means "in front of the patient's bed or operation bed "

* '临' (facing/ in front of)
* '床' ( bed) here refers to '手术床'(operation bed) or 病床 (patient's bed)
* '临床经验' means 'clinical experience'

> The term '东床' came from the idiom 东床快婿,

The story of [东床快婿](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%9C%E5%BA%8A%E5%BF%AB%E5%A9%BF):

> 郄鉴 heard the sons of 王导 were all handsome gentleman. So, he wanted to marry his daughter to one of them. For that very reason, 郄鉴 sent a messenger to 王导's house to observe the young men in 王导's household in order to select one of them to be his son-in-law.
>
> The messenger reported to 郄鉴 that all of them were pleasant gentleman and showed him great respect -- except for one. There was one bare-chested young man lay there in a bed on the east side of the room, ignoring all the commotion. 郄鉴 decided this bare-chested young man on the East-side bed was the finest young man among 王导's sons, and should be the husband of his daughter.
>
> That bare-chested man on the East bed turned out to be the famous [王羲之](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Xizhi) (Wang Xizhi).

That's the story of how '东床' (East bed) became a symbol of "worthy son-in-law"

* in '东床快婿', '东床'(East bed)= '快婿'( a pleasant son-in-law)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-07-24. Score: 1

username_2 has basically answered this already, I’ll just give what I have.

临床 is the same as the English *bedside* as in *bedside manner* of doctors.

东床 is explained in A Chinese-English dictionary as:

> NOUN
>
> eastern bed—son-in-law (from an anecdote about the celebrated calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (321-379), who as a young man remained eating bare chested on the eastern bed when an official came to choose a son-in-law for the minister's daughter, and who was selected for his independence of mind over his well-behaved brothers)
>
> 东床快婿
>
> dōngchuángkuàixù
>
> a good son-in-law

So, yes, as you said 床 just means *bed*.


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