卿卿我我

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Chinese

(old) minister; (old) term of endearment between spouses; thou (poet.) (old) minister; (old) term of endearment between spouses; thou (poet.) I; me I; me
simp. and trad.
(卿卿我我) 		卿 卿 我 我

Etymology

The chengyu, or at least the reduplication of 卿 (MC khjaeng) in it, appears to be influenced by a story in the A New Account of the Tales of the World. Wang Rong, one of the Seven Sages (竹林七賢), felt discomfited by his wife calling him 卿 (MC khjaeng), a second-person term of endearment then typically used by the man to refer to the woman (i.e. men's speech). The wife, in retort, famously said

親卿愛卿，是以卿卿；我不卿卿，誰當卿卿？ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
亲卿爱卿，是以卿卿；我不卿卿，谁当卿卿？ [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5th century CE
Qīn qīng ài qīng, shìyǐ qīng qīng; wǒ bù qīng qīng, shéi dāng qīng qīng?
I endear my dear and love my dear, and that's why I call my dear "my dear". If I were not to call my dear "my dear", who else is supposed to call my dear "my dear"?

Here in the construct 卿卿, the first 卿 is used by conversion (or anthimeria) as a verb that means "to call someone by 卿", which was idiomatic due to the high degree of elasticity of the Chinese language.

Pronunciation

Idiom

卿卿我我

  1. whispers of love; lovers' talk; to bill and coo; to be very much in love; intimate relations
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