五颜六色
- Literal
- five hues, six colors
- Figurative
- Colorful, multicolored; said of anything bright and full of varied colors. By extension, also 'all sorts, every kind.'
Where does 五颜六色 come from?
It does not come from a tale: it is a set phrase built from two parallel pairs, "five hues" and "six colors," where the numbers are not literal but evoke abundance and variety, as in other folk sayings (五…六…). Its use is well attested in Li Ruzhen's Qing-dynasty novel 《镜花缘》, chapter 14: "惟各人所登之云，五颜六色，其形不一" ("only the clouds each of them rode were of every color, of differing shapes"). Today it is very common for describing anything strikingly colorful.
Source (出处): 《镜花缘》
How is 五颜六色 used? Two examples
- 花园里开满了五颜六色的花，非常好看。
The garden is full of flowers of every color; it's beautiful.
- 孩子们穿着五颜六色的衣服在广场上跳舞。
The children were dancing in the square in brightly colored clothes.
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