打 + 名词 + 牌
to play the … card; to make … one’s selling point or tactic
Structure
打（起／出） 名词 牌
What it means
“To play the … card”: to use a particular appeal as a selling point or tactic, a metaphor from card games (打牌, lesson 2-13).
How it is built
打（起／出） + noun + 牌: 他又打起了亲情牌 (he played the family card). Marketing also says 主打…牌.
When to use it
Speech, business talk and the news; often a little critical, hinting at a calculated tactic. Common nouns: 感情／情感, 亲情, 价格, 健康, 文化, 怀旧, 悲情 (playing the victim).
Watch out
✗ 玩感情牌 ✓ 打感情牌. Use 打, not 玩: 玩感情 means toying with someone’s feelings.
Examples
商家纷纷打起“感情牌”，广告里很少说“宠物”，说得更多的是“家人”。
Firms are all playing the emotional card: their adverts seldom say “pets” and far more often say “family”.
这家车企打的是价格牌，同样的配置比别人便宜两万。
This carmaker is playing the price card: the same specification costs twenty thousand less than its rivals’.
看到说理没用，他又打起了亲情牌。
When reasoning got him nowhere, he played the family card.
Learn this in Lesson 59 · HSK 6: 宠物经济 (The pet economy)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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