Definition
关子 is a noun that originally referred to a type of Song Dynasty paper money or a blank pass, but in modern Chinese it is almost exclusively used in the fixed expression 卖关子 (mài guānzi), meaning 'to keep someone in suspense' or 'to play coy by withholding the climax or key point of a story'. The standalone sense 'climax' appears in literary contexts, but learners will most often encounter it in the verb-object phrase 卖关子.
n.
climax (in a story)the crucial point (often in the phrase 卖关子 'to keep in suspense')
Examples
- 关子，。Tā zǒng ài mài guān zǐ, ràng rén zháojí.He always likes to keep people in suspense, making them anxious.
- 关子，。Gùshi dào le zuì guānjiàn de guān zǐ, tā què tíng le xiàlái.The story reached the most critical climax, but he stopped.
- 关子，！Bié mài guān zǐ le, kuài gàosu wǒmen jiéguǒ ba!Don't keep us in suspense—tell us the result quickly!
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