堵车

Etymology & Components

The Chinese word 堵车 (dǔchē) is a compound word consisting of two characters: 堵 (dǔ) and 车 (chē). The character 堵 originally meant "to block" or "to obstruct", and it is often used in the context of traffic congestion. The character 车, on the other hand, means "vehicle" or "car". When these two characters are combined, they form the word 堵车, which literally means "blocked vehicles" or "traffic jam". This term is commonly used in Chinese to describe situations where traffic is congested or slow-moving due to various factors such as accidents, road construction, or heavy traffic volume.