<p>In the structure [adjective + 死人], the term '死人'(people die) functions as an adverbial phrase that mean "extremely"</p>

<p>Example: </p>

<p>"笑死人" = "extremely laughable/ funny" (so laughable that people could die from laughing)</p>

<p>"急死人" = "extremely worrisome" (so worrisome that people could die from worrying)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>The food I give you is very sweet, if you died from the sweetness don't blame me...</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this case, it is short for "甜死人" which mean "extremely sweet" (so sweet that people could die from sugar overload)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>[adjective + 死人不偿命] is extended version of [adjective + 死人] . Jokingly add: [不偿命] as if you really could die.</p></li>
<li><p>"(甜)<strong>死人不偿命</strong>" means "<strong>seriously</strong> and <strong>extremely</strong> (sweet)"  (It is so sweet that people could die from it, don't say I didn't warn you) </p></li>
</ul>

<p><strong>Important</strong>: don't use a verb that can actually kill people before [死人不偿命].  "打死人不偿命" literally means "beat people to death without paying with one's own life" </p>

<p>'笑' in '笑死人' is not a verb, it functions as the adjective '可笑' (laughable)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T20:58:20.123Z
2017-10-20T21:14:37.187Z
2017-10-20T21:14:37.187Z
Tang Ho
<p>First, you should discern whether it's used as its literary meaning or metaphorical meaning from a given context. </p>

<p>Literally, '死人不偿命' means one wouldn't compensate for other's death.  </p>

<p>Metaphorically, don't come to me (for reasoning) if you would 'die' of it. The typical example is 笑死人不偿命，for example 笑死人不偿命的笑话.  The similar phrase in English could be 'something that could laugh your ass-off'.  </p>

<p>On the other hand, 笑死人不偿命的笑话 sometimes could be a way of tempting, in which they suggest you not taking a shot of it otherwise it would 'kill' you by too much without any compensation. This could have the effect of the psychological inversion, and finally you wouldn't wait to take a shot of it. </p>

<p>There are some other similar phrases in our daily usage, like 笑死人了，笑死了， 吵死了， 烦死了, ... . You could say 我最近烦死了！（I've been bored to death recently.）.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-21T03:48:52.977Z
2017-10-21T03:48:52.977Z
dan
<p>From HiNative it's something like:</p>

<p>The food I give you is very sweet, if you died from the sweetness don't blame me...</p>

<p>But I still don't get what the phrase refer to</p>

<p>Is it something like 'you personally search for trouble'?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-20T20:14:52.260Z
You can add a comma: 死人，不偿命. It means 就算人死了，我也不偿命, Even if people die, I do not pay for it.
user3a
<meaning><phrase>
What does the term '死人不偿命' mean?
# What does the term '死人不偿命' mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-20)

From HiNative it's something like:

The food I give you is very sweet, if you died from the sweetness don't blame me...

But I still don't get what the phrase refer to

Is it something like 'you personally search for trouble'?

**Tags:** meaning, phrase

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You can add a comma: 死人，不偿命. It means 就算人死了，我也不偿命, Even if people die, I do not pay for it.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-10-20. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

In the structure [adjective + 死人], the term '死人'(people die) functions as an adverbial phrase that mean "extremely"

Example:

"笑死人" = "extremely laughable/ funny" (so laughable that people could die from laughing)

"急死人" = "extremely worrisome" (so worrisome that people could die from worrying)

> *The food I give you is very sweet, if you died from the sweetness don't blame me...*

In this case, it is short for "甜死人" which mean "extremely sweet" (so sweet that people could die from sugar overload)

* [adjective + 死人不偿命] is extended version of [adjective + 死人] . Jokingly add: [不偿命] as if you really could die.
* "(甜)**死人不偿命**" means "**seriously** and **extremely** (sweet)" (It is so sweet that people could die from it, don't say I didn't warn you)

**Important**: don't use a verb that can actually kill people before [死人不偿命]. "打死人不偿命" literally means "beat people to death without paying with one's own life"

'笑' in '笑死人' is not a verb, it functions as the adjective '可笑' (laughable)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2017-10-21. Score: 2

First, you should discern whether it's used as its literary meaning or metaphorical meaning from a given context.

Literally, '死人不偿命' means one wouldn't compensate for other's death.

Metaphorically, don't come to me (for reasoning) if you would 'die' of it. The typical example is 笑死人不偿命，for example 笑死人不偿命的笑话. The similar phrase in English could be 'something that could laugh your ass-off'.

On the other hand, 笑死人不偿命的笑话 sometimes could be a way of tempting, in which they suggest you not taking a shot of it otherwise it would 'kill' you by too much without any compensation. This could have the effect of the psychological inversion, and finally you wouldn't wait to take a shot of it.

There are some other similar phrases in our daily usage, like 笑死人了，笑死了， 吵死了， 烦死了, ... . You could say 我最近烦死了！（I've been bored to death recently.）.


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