Definition
This is an ABAB reduplication of 修补 (to repair), common in colloquial Chinese. It emphasizes doing small, repeated, or piecemeal repairs — often to keep something functional rather than make it good as new. It can carry a connotation of makeshift or temporary fixes, and is used both literally (mending clothes, fixing a leak) and figuratively (patching up a plan or relationship).
r.f.
to patch up (in small, repeated ways)to tinker withto make piecemeal repairs
Examples
- 修修补补，。Zhè jiàn yīfu yǐjīng xiū xiū bǔ bǔ hěn duō cì le, bùrú mǎi jiàn xīn de.This piece of clothing has been patched up many times — you might as well buy a new one.
- 修修补补，。Tā zǒngshì xiū xiū bǔ bǔ, cónglái méi chèdǐ jiějué wèntí.He always just patches things up temporarily and never really solves the problem.
- 修修补补，。Zhège xìtǒng kào xiū xiū bǔ bǔ wéichí le hěn duō nián, xiànzài bìxū chóngxīn shèjì.This system has been kept going with piecemeal fixes for years; now it must be redesigned.
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