谈癌色变
tán ái sè biàn
to turn pale at the very mention of cancer
Character by character
谈tán
talk
talk
癌ái
cancer
cancer
色sè
face
face
变biàn
change
change
Example
过去很多人谈癌色变，连体检都不敢去做。
In the past many people turned pale at the mere mention of cancer and did not even dare to have a check-up.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
A modern coinage on the pattern of 谈虎色变 (7-13), from a Song-dynasty story of a man once mauled by a tiger who went pale whenever tigers were mentioned. Health writers use it for the dread of cancer, usually to argue against it: 不必谈癌色变.
Learn this in Lesson 156 · HSK 7–9: 与癌共存 (Living with cancer)
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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