十万火急

shí wàn huǒ jí

extremely urgent

Character by character

十shí
ten

万wàn
ten-thousand

火huǒ
fire

急jí
urgent

什么事这么十万火急，半夜给我打电话？

What’s so urgent that you’re calling me at midnight?

Tone: neutral.

Often exaggerated or teasing, as in 什么事这么十万火急？

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