Chinese math
- noun
- Informal
:
matemáticas chinas
- The instructions were so complicated, it was like trying to understand Chinese math.
Examples
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Figuring out tax forms can seem like Chinese math to people unfamiliar with accounting.
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She joked that her new job involved more Chinese math than she could handle.
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This problem feels like Chinese math to me.
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I can't understand Chinese maths at all.
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Completing the puzzle felt like Chinese math because it was so intricate and difficult.
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When the professor explained the advanced theories, they sounded like Chinese math to the students.
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He described solving the coding challenge as Chinese math due to its complexity.
Synonyms
1
9.6
A very complicated object with boxes inside boxes that is hard to open
Something very difficult to understand, like a hard math problem
Antonyms
How Difficult
Surface Forms
Morphology
The colloquial sense 'very difficult' relies on a cultural stereotype rather than a compositional meaning of 'Chinese' + 'math', so a learner who only knows the literal constituents would most likely interpret it as 'math from China' rather than as a metaphor for difficulty. This metaphorical, culture-specific extension is not predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the item is opaque.
Etymology
The phrase Chinese math may come from the image of someone looking at math written in Chinese and not being able to follow it. That picture is why people use Chinese math to mean 'very difficult' or 'hard to understand'.