事故

The Chinese word 事故 (shìgù) is composed of two characters: 事 (shì) and 故 (gù). The character 事 originally meant "to serve" or "to do", and later extended to mean "affair", "matter", or "event". The character 故 originally meant "old" or "former", and later extended to mean "reason", "cause", or "accident". When combined, the two characters 事故 literally mean "event-reason" or "matter-cause", and are used to refer to an accident or incident.In modern Chinese, 事故 is commonly used to refer to an unexpected and unfortunate event that results in damage or injury. It can be used in a variety of contexts, such as traffic accidents, industrial accidents, or natural disasters. For example, the phrase 交通事故 (jiāotōng shìgù) means "traffic accident", while the phrase 工业事故 (gōngyè shìgù) means "industrial accident".The word 事故 can also be used in a more general sense to refer to any unexpected or unfortunate event, regardless of whether it results in damage or injury. For example, the phrase 人生事故 (rénshēng shìgù) means "the unexpected events of life", while the phrase 社会事故 (shèhuì shìgù) means "social incidents".Overall, the Chinese word 事故 is a versatile term that can be used to refer to a wide range of unexpected and unfortunate events. Its etymology reflects its original meaning of "event-reason" or "matter-cause", and it is commonly used in modern Chinese to refer to accidents, incidents, or unexpected events.