约定俗成
- Literal
- agreed and settled, custom formed
- Figurative
- Established by usage: something no one ever officially decided, but that is accepted because everyone has done it or said it that way for a long time.
Where does 约定俗成 come from?
It comes from the Xunzi, from the chapter "On the Rectification of Names." There Xunzi argues that names are not fitting by nature: they are fixed by agreement, and once that agreement is settled and has become custom, the name is called fitting; whatever departs from it is not. It was an idea about language: words mean what they mean because the community has agreed that they do. Today it is applied to rules, practices and expressions that no one imposed but everyone follows, and it is especially common when talking about language.
Source (出处): 《荀子·正名》
How is 约定俗成 used? Two examples
- 很多网络用语一开始没人懂，用的人多了，也就约定俗成了。
At first a lot of internet slang makes sense to no one, but once enough people use it, usage makes it stick.
- 年夜饭在爷爷家吃，这在我们家早就是约定俗成的事了。
Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is at Grandpa's; in our family that has long been settled custom.
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