<p>Next time try a proper dictionary first.</p>
<p>现代汉语词典</p>
<blockquote>
<p>见面时谈天气冷暖之类的应酬话</p>
</blockquote>
<p>重編國語辭典修訂本</p>
<blockquote>
<p>見面時彼此問候起居或泛談氣候寒暖之類的應酬話。</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So it's just talking about the weather when people meet.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-31T01:14:03.037Z
2021-07-31T01:14:03.037Z
Betty
<p>寒暄 usually occurs at the beginning of a gathering prior to it has formally started, during which, people start to greet the few early birds and exchange pleasantries. The gathering will start to pick up pace as more people coming, and getting more interesting, which can be considered as the situation &quot;getting hotter&quot;. Compared to this stage, the beginning (people started to arrive) is considered &quot;cold&quot; (寒), and the talks occurred prior to the formal start of the gathering is 寒暄 (a casual talk to pass time).</p>
<p>Note that 寒暄 is not limited to the beginning period of a gathering as suggested above, but any talk that has secondary importance or less, a casual talk that only meant to pass time while waiting for the start of the formal event, during or near the end of such event.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-31T02:45:10.243Z
2021-07-31T03:04:03.517Z
2021-07-31T03:04:03.517Z
r13
<p>i would shortcut “寒暄” to “greetings” </p>
<p>there was an interesting story related to &quot;寒暄&quot; in 建康實錄 卷十:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>獻之・字子敬・羲之第七子・少有盛名而髙邁不覊・雖羣居終日・容止不怠・風流為一時之冠・嘗共兄徽之・操之詣謝安・二兄多言俗事・獻之唯<strong>寒暄</strong>而已・既出・客問安・王氏兄弟優劣・安曰・少者佳・客問其故・安曰・吉人之辭寡・躁人之辭多・故知之</p>
</blockquote>
<p>roughly,</p>
<p>one day, the seventh son (獻之) of calligrapher (王羲之), together with his two elder brothers (徽之, 操之) visited a politician (謝安).</p>
<p>his two elder brothers overtalked about worldy affairs (多言俗事), while 獻之 only greeted (唯寒暄而已).</p>
<p>after their leaving (既出), one of the guests asked the politician (客問安): &quot;the goods and bads of the three brothers?&quot; (王氏兄弟優劣)</p>
<p>the politician said (安曰): &quot;the youngest is the best&quot; (少者佳)</p>
<p>have fun :)</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2yjbw.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2yjbw.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-31T13:19:05.343Z
2021-07-31T13:19:05.343Z
水巷孑蠻
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CC-CEDICT</a>: 寒暄 (hán​xuān​) to exchange conventional greetings / to exchange pleasantries</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E5%AF%92" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CC-CEDICT</a>: 寒 (hán​​) cold / poor / to tremble<br />
<a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E6%9A%84" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CC-CEDICT</a>: 暄 (xuān​) genial and warm</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I have trouble remembering 寒暄 because the meaning of its two characters seem unrelated to the meaning of 寒暄.  I guess when people make smalltalk, they tend to talk about the weather.  In any case...</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: Is there a story behind the word 寒暄?</p>
<p>Googling <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84+etymology" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><code>寒暄 etymology</code></a> doesn't help, as the links (e.g. <a href="https://mandarintemple.com/dictionary/chinese-to-english/hsk-6/%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84-han2-xuan1/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">1</a>, <a href="https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/chinese-word-d4e1671fb031af71cb5c7bf1a2345f321e24829e.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">2</a>, <a href="https://hanziyuan.net/#news" rel="nofollow noreferrer">3</a>) just list random unhelpful, auto-generated information about the characters, and not the word itself.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-31T15:20:23.037Z
There are a lot of stories centered on the concept of 寒暄, but I didn't find any about the word itself, like the one behind the word 矛盾.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<etymology><word>
Is there a story behind the word 寒暄 (lit. "cold warm") = "to exchange pleasantries"?
# Is there a story behind the word 寒暄 (lit. "cold warm") = "to exchange pleasantries"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-31)

> [CC-CEDICT](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84): 寒暄 (hán​xuān​) to exchange conventional greetings / to exchange pleasantries
>
> [CC-CEDICT](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E5%AF%92): 寒 (hán​​) cold / poor / to tremble  
> [CC-CEDICT](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?wdqb=%E6%9A%84): 暄 (xuān​) genial and warm

I have trouble remembering 寒暄 because the meaning of its two characters seem unrelated to the meaning of 寒暄. I guess when people make smalltalk, they tend to talk about the weather. In any case...

**Question**: Is there a story behind the word 寒暄?

Googling [`寒暄 etymology`](https://www.google.com/search?q=%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84+etymology) doesn't help, as the links (e.g. [1](https://mandarintemple.com/dictionary/chinese-to-english/hsk-6/%E5%AF%92%E6%9A%84-han2-xuan1/), [2](https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/chinese-word-d4e1671fb031af71cb5c7bf1a2345f321e24829e.html), [3](https://hanziyuan.net/#news)) just list random unhelpful, auto-generated information about the characters, and not the word itself.

**Tags:** etymology, word

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There are a lot of stories centered on the concept of 寒暄, but I didn't find any about the word itself, like the one behind the word 矛盾.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2021-07-31. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

i would shortcut “寒暄” to “greetings”

there was an interesting story related to "寒暄" in 建康實錄 卷十:

> 獻之・字子敬・羲之第七子・少有盛名而髙邁不覊・雖羣居終日・容止不怠・風流為一時之冠・嘗共兄徽之・操之詣謝安・二兄多言俗事・獻之唯**寒暄**而已・既出・客問安・王氏兄弟優劣・安曰・少者佳・客問其故・安曰・吉人之辭寡・躁人之辭多・故知之

roughly,

one day, the seventh son (獻之) of calligrapher (王羲之), together with his two elder brothers (徽之, 操之) visited a politician (謝安).

his two elder brothers overtalked about worldy affairs (多言俗事), while 獻之 only greeted (唯寒暄而已).

after their leaving (既出), one of the guests asked the politician (客問安): "the goods and bads of the three brothers?" (王氏兄弟優劣)

the politician said (安曰): "the youngest is the best" (少者佳)

have fun :)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2yjbw.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/2yjbw.png)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-07-31. Score: 3

Next time try a proper dictionary first.

现代汉语词典

> 见面时谈天气冷暖之类的应酬话

重編國語辭典修訂本

> 見面時彼此問候起居或泛談氣候寒暖之類的應酬話。

So it's just talking about the weather when people meet.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2021-07-31. Score: 0

寒暄 usually occurs at the beginning of a gathering prior to it has formally started, during which, people start to greet the few early birds and exchange pleasantries. The gathering will start to pick up pace as more people coming, and getting more interesting, which can be considered as the situation "getting hotter". Compared to this stage, the beginning (people started to arrive) is considered "cold" (寒), and the talks occurred prior to the formal start of the gathering is 寒暄 (a casual talk to pass time).

Note that 寒暄 is not limited to the beginning period of a gathering as suggested above, but any talk that has secondary importance or less, a casual talk that only meant to pass time while waiting for the start of the formal event, during or near the end of such event.


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