吃得开

吃得開
chīdekāi
phrase #36,550

Meanings

  1. 1 to be popular
  2. 2 to be well-received
  3. 3 to get on well (with people); to be in demand

Examples

HSK 1
Tā zài gōngsī lǐ hěn chīdekāi.
He gets along very well with everyone at the company.
HSK 5
Zhè zhǒng chǎnpǐn zài niánqīngrén zhōng hěn chīdekāi.
This kind of product is very popular among young people.

Tips

grammar
Built on the V-得-C potential complement pattern: 吃 (eat) + 得 (can) + 开 (open up). The negative form is 吃不开 (‘unpopular, can’t get along’). Despite containing 吃, the meaning has nothing to do with food - it describes social currency.
memory
Think of it as ‘able to eat your way through’ a social setting - moving smoothly through any crowd, ‘taking up space’ wherever you go.

Stroke Order

吃 chī
得 de
开 kāi