比 as synonym for 放？

Question

I recently changed my phone language to Chinese. Someone "loved" a text I wrote, meaning that they put a heart on the message. The phone notification says, "这个人比了个心“， which to me, seems like another way of saying “这个人放了个心在你的短信上“. I am confused by the use of "比" here. In the dictionary, the only definition which seemed similar was "gesture", in the context of "连说带比“， bu even that doesn't really seem to fit this context. Can "比" be used like "放"? What are other examples of similar usages of "比"?

我最近变成了手机语言到中文。一个朋友“爱”了一个短信，就是说他放了一个心在短信上。我的手机通知我说”这个人比了个心“。我觉得这句话跟“这个人放了个心在你的短信上“一样。我不太看懂这个”比“字用法在这句话。在词典里，我找不到了一个仿佛像的意思，就找到了”连说带比“的”比“用法，但是连这个也不是一样的意思。”比“可以用跟”放“一样吗？

Answer 1

MDBG

• 比 = to gesture

These days, 比了个心 basically means to make this hand signal:

If you think of doing sign language or charades, then that's the verb like gesticulation found behind 比. Sometimes the meaning can even be extended to mean, "act out" or "mime."

An equivalent would be if the software said, "someone has given you a thumbs up!" It's a coy way of saying that your post has been liked.

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Another related phrase that you might want to know:

• 比中指 = to give the middle finger

Answer 2

Just to point out the mistake made by your dictionary - "连说带比“, not "笔", which is the writing tool (pen).

The meaning of 连说带比 is someone supplement verbal conversation with hand posture (手勢), usually an indication of excitement of the speaker. For example: "他激動得连说带比", "他连说带比的說的很生動".

Another example is "比手劃腳". In English, it is used in the situation that a person offering non-useful opinions/advices/comments to something, or to a another person in an incident/event, that is none of his business, and been criticized by another bystander "根本沒你的事, 為何在一旁比手劃腳, 說長道短".

Answer 3

To make it simple, 比心 is short for: 比划出个心