Definition
掉价 is a separable verb (离合词) that literally means 'to drop in price', but it also has a figurative colloquial sense of 'to lower oneself socially' or 'to lose face' — used when someone does something that demeans their social standing. When you need to insert aspect markers (了, 过) or frequency/duration expressions, the two syllables split: 掉了一次价 ('dropped in price once'), 掉过价 ('has dropped in price before'). The figurative sense is more common in spoken criticism (这样做太掉价了).
v.o.
(of prices) to dropto go down in price(colloquial) to lower oneself (socially)to lose face
Examples
- 掉价。Zuìjìn hěn duō shāngpǐn dōu diào jià le.Many products have dropped in price recently.
- ，。Zhè jiàn yīfu diào le yī cì jià, xiànzài hěn piányi.This piece of clothing dropped in price once, now it's very cheap.
- ，掉价。Wèile qián zuò zhè zhǒng shì, tài diào jià le.Doing this kind of thing for money is really beneath oneself.
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