青梅竹马

qīng méi zhú mǎ

childhood sweethearts

Character by character

青qīng
green

梅méi
plum

竹zhú
bamboo

马mǎ
horse

他和太太是青梅竹马，从小一起长大。

He and his wife were childhood sweethearts who grew up together.

Tone: positive (praise).

From Li Bai’s 《长干行》: a little boy rides up on a bamboo hobby horse, and the two children play with green plums.

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