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Is the expression 冰雪聪明 (bīng xuě cōng míng) really only used for girls? The literal translation is "snow smart" and I understand it means something along the lines of "extremely smart" but the times I've tried using it for boys/men I'm told it's only for girls.

Stan
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猫猫爱海海
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  • As it is used overwhelmingly for girls, I feel it sounds like a gay if use it to describe a man. – Stan Jan 06 '14 at 01:19
  • You can use tone numbers to indicate tones if you are not sure how to type letters with accent marks. – deutschZuid Jan 06 '14 at 01:39
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    @deutschZuid this idiom should pronounce bīng xuě cōng míng. Not cōng ming. – Stan Jan 06 '14 at 02:04
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    冰 and 雪 implies purity and innocence, that's why 冰雪聪明 is mainly used to describe smart young girls. – 杨以轩 Jan 06 '14 at 02:55
  • @Stan Interesting. I have never heard anyone pronounce it like that. – deutschZuid Jan 06 '14 at 03:48
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    @deutschZuid ... maybe I should have expressed more clearly. Yes, 聪明 alone can be pronounced as cōng ming, and it is quite often heard; however it's not a must, the National Putonghua Proficiency Test doesn't put it in the "must neutral tone" list, and the 现代汉语词典 fifth edition also marks it as cōng míng (well it is a constant argued issue). In 冰雪聪明, the cōng ming sound is not natural, so at least I don't suggest pronouncing it like that. – Stan Jan 06 '14 at 04:23
  • I'd would rather suggest not to realize most neutral tones, except for words like 的 得 地(adverb marker) 妈妈 爸爸. Southern speakers don't really speak with neutral tones and Taiwanese mandarin also has much fewer words with neutral tones... – user58955 Jan 06 '14 at 15:42
  • Like the word "cute", (可爱), which in the not too distant past was used quite exclusively for girls, particularly young girls. But in our present "mixed-up" World, anything goes. Be that as it may, I still think that expressions like 漂亮, 美丽 are for girls only. – Wayne Cheah Feb 27 '21 at 06:16

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冰雪聪明 always describes that someone is very clever and smart. It comes from 唐·杜甫《送樊二十三侍御赴汉中判官》诗：“坐知七曜历，手画三军势。冰雪净聪明，雷霆走精锐。”. But 冰雪聪明 is not only for girl.

冰雪聪明 can be used to describe the child too----冰雪聪明的孩子, but be careful when you use it to describe adult, especially male adult.

Other examples in ancient articles:

以冰雪聪明的文章，写雷霆精锐的思想，这种议论，就容易动人听闻了。（清·曾朴《孽海花》第十回）

姬冰雪聪明，靡不淹悟，类多韜匿不言。(清·陈孟楷 《湘烟小录·香畹楼忆语》)

Source：

為何叫冰雪聰明

Community
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einverne
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I would say, in most cases it is used to describe young girls. In some other cases, if people want to make their comments/conversation to take a flavor of humor, they can be used to describe boys/men.

才貌双全 is relatively more neutral.

L.J
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According to baidu (http://baike.baidu.com/view/117274.htm), it is usually used to describe women, but can occasionally be used to describe men as well. "这个词通常用来形容年轻女子。 ... 有时也可用于才貌双全的男性。"

user238264
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Yes. This word is ususally for girls.

Ruohan Li
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