好你个X! and X到Y头上来了: indignation
【六56】【六60】口语格式 / fixed patterns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
好你个 + noun voices anger or teasing reproach on discovering what someone has done: “well, you…!”. What follows 好你个 is a noun (好你个裁判, 好你个老王, 好你个小子), never an adjective. The phrase always scolds, even in a joking tone between friends, and the rest of the sentence names the misdeed (原来是你……, 居然……, 竟敢……).
V + 到 + Y + 头上来了 (literally “all the way onto Y's head”) says that someone pushes an action as far as Y, as if nothing could stop them: 欺负、骗、偷、算计 + 到 + person + 头上来了. The feeling is “he dares to go after me, after us, after a policeman!”. The two often travel together: 好你个小偷,居然偷到警察头上来了!
Both are spoken and emotional, for friends and colleagues, never for a letter or a talk. They carry on the surprise of 居然 and 竟然 (“he even dares to…”) and the irritation of 真不像话, with more colour.
Examples
好你个老王,原来是你把我的啤酒喝光了!
Hǎo nǐ ge Lǎo Wáng, yuánlái shì nǐ bǎ wǒ de píjiǔ hē guāng le!So it was you, Wang, who drank all my beer!
好你个小李,上班时间居然躲在这里玩手机!
Hǎo nǐ ge Xiǎo Lǐ, shàngbān shíjiān jūrán duǒ zài zhèlǐ wán shǒujī!You, Xiao Li! Hiding away here to play on your phone in work hours!
好你个小偷,居然偷到警察头上来了!
Hǎo nǐ ge xiǎotōu, jūrán tōu dào jǐngchá tóu shang lái le!You thief, you actually dare to steal from a policeman!
骗子现在居然骗到老人头上来了,真不像话!
Piànzi xiànzài jūrán piàn dào lǎorén tóu shang lái le, zhēn bú xiànghuà!Now scammers are even going after old people. It's outrageous!
他们欺负新同事也就算了,现在竟然欺负到经理头上来了!
Tāmen qīfu xīn tóngshì yě jiù suàn le, xiànzài jìngrán qīfu dào jīnglǐ tóu shang lái le!Bullying the new colleagues was bad enough, but now they have gone as far as bullying the manager!
Common mistakes
✗ 好你个聪明! → ✓ 好你个小子! (after 好你个 comes a noun, and the phrase is a reproach, not a compliment; to praise, say 你真聪明).
✗ 他欺负我头上。 → ✓ 他欺负到我头上来了。 (you need 到 before the person and 来了 at the end).
✗ 好你个张经理,请您在会上发言。 → 好你个 scolds or teases; it has no place in a polite or formal exchange.