大兴土木
dà xīng tǔ mù
to build on a grand scale
Character by character
大dà
greatly
greatly
兴xīng
start
start
土tǔ
earth
earth
木mù
wood
wood
Example
新小区一交房，家家户户都在大兴土木，从早到晚都是敲墙的声音。
As soon as the new estate was handed over, every household started building work, and there was the sound of walls being knocked about from morning to night.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
土木, earth and timber, were the materials of traditional building, and 土木工程 is still civil engineering. Often critical, of officials or the rich building lavishly (大兴土木，劳民伤财), but in everyday talk it can be a joke about a big renovation.
Learn this in Lesson 128 · HSK 7–9: 装修一套房 (Doing up a flat)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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