ईद का चाँद (iid kaa chaand)
noun
Literally 'the Eid moon' -- the crescent moon that signals the end of Ramzan; used idiomatically for someone or something rarely seen. This is a fixed idiomatic phrase, not a compositional noun phrase.
Sense
1
:
someone/something seen very rarely (idiom)
noun, masculine Almost always used with होना (honaa) or दिखना (dikhnaa) in constructions like तुम तो ईद का चाँद हो गए हो (tum to iid kaa chaand ho gae ho, 'you've become such a rare sight').
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: This idiom comes straight from the practice of moon-sighting that determines the date of Eid (iid) -- families and neighborhoods used to (and often still do) scan the sky for that first sliver of crescent, so a person you rarely see gets teasingly compared to it. It is warm, affectionate teasing between friends or relatives, not an insult -- something an aunt might say to a nephew who only visits once a year: अरे, तुम तो ईद का चाँद हो गए हो! (are, tum to iid kaa chaand ho gae ho, 'oh, you've become such a rare sight!').
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes take this literally as 'the moon of Eid' in a sentence about the festival itself, missing that in everyday speech it is almost always the idiom about a person who has been absent or hard to reach. 2) The phrase is invariant as a set expression -- do not modify it to ईद के चाँद (iid ke chaand) or otherwise inflect चाँद (chaand) within it; it functions as a fixed noun phrase, typically the complement of होना (honaa).
Sample Sentences:
अरे, तुम तो ईद का चाँद हो गए हो, कभी मिलते ही नहीं!
Oh, you've become such a rare sight, you never meet up anymore!
(are, tum to iid kaa chaand ho gae ho, kabhii milte hii nahiin!)
तू तो बिल्कुल ईद का चाँद बन गया है, इतने दिनों बाद दिखा।
You've totally become like the Eid moon, showing up after so many days.
(too to bilkul iid kaa chaand ban gayaa hai, itne dinon baad dikhaa।)
मामाजी साल में एक बार आते हैं, बिलकुल ईद का चाँद हैं।
Uncle visits once a year, he is completely a once-in-a-blue-moon sight.
(maamaajii saal men ek baar aate hain, bilkul iid kaa chaand hain।)
पहले वह हर हफ्ते आता था, अब तो ईद का चाँद हो गया है।
He used to come every week before, now he's become a rare sight.
(pahle vah har haphte aataa thaa, ab to iid kaa chaand ho gayaa hai।)
क्या तुम हमेशा ईद का चाँद ही बने रहोगे, या कभी फोन भी करोगे?
Will you always remain such a rare sight, or will you ever call too?
(kyaa tum hameshaa iid kaa chaand hii bane rahoge, yaa kabhii phon bhii karoge?)
अगर तुम इतने व्यस्त न रहते तो ईद का चाँद न बनते।
If you weren't so busy, you wouldn't have become such a rare sight.
(agar tum itne vyast n rahte to iid kaa chaand n bante।)
यार, ईद का चाँद मत बनो, कभी-कभार मिल लिया करो।
Dude, don't be such a rare sight, meet up once in a while.
(yaar, iid kaa chaand mat bano, kabhii-kabhaar mil liyaa karo।)
दादी हमेशा कहती हैं कि पोते तो ईद का चाँद हो गए हैं, बस त्योहारों पर ही याद आते हैं।
Grandma always says the grandsons have become such rare sights, they're remembered only on festivals.
(daadii hameshaa kahtii hain ki pote to iid kaa chaand ho gae hain, bas tyohaaron par hii yaad aate hain।)
मुझे नहीं लगता वह इस बार भी आएगा, वह तो ईद का चाँद है।
I don't think he'll come this time either, he's such a rare sight.
(mujhe nahiin lagtaa vah is baar bhii aaegaa, vah to iid kaa chaand hai।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
ईद का चाँद
(iid kaa chaand)
(sg.m.oblique):
ईद का चाँद
(iid kaa chaand)
(pl.m.direct):
ईद का चाँद
(iid kaa chaand)
(pl.m.oblique):
ईद का चाँदों
(iid kaa chaandon)