<p>Let's break it down:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>不按套路</p>
</blockquote>
<p>套路 usually indicates a frame of reference, a set of rules (&quot;routine&quot; may be correct for some sports, like martial arts, or weight-lifting exercises; or the &quot;every day routine&quot;), and the term is often associated to playing cards or games. So 不按套路 means literally &quot;not according to the rules&quot;, but <strong>not</strong> in the sense of cheating; more in the sense of &quot;out of the box&quot; as in &quot;thinking out of the box&quot;, &quot;unconventional&quot;, &quot;unexpected&quot;. <br>As if when playing Monopoly (大富翁) you land on one of the expensive lots and even if you could, you <em>don't</em> purchase it, contrary to what other players would do in the same situation.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>出牌</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And as a matter of fact we have 出牌，so 不按套路出牌 is something like &quot;playing unconventionally&quot;. It doesn't refer to a specific (card) game. It's just used metaphorically here.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>的</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Just the noun modifier.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>脑回路</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As you correctly note, 回路 means &quot;circuitry&quot;, &quot;circuit&quot;, as in 电回路。 The variant 脑回路 here is also a relatively common term to indicate, by extension, the &quot;circuits in your brain&quot;</p>
<p>Putting it all together:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>不按套路出牌的脑回路</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I like your translation &quot;unconventional brain circuitry&quot;. The meaning is that Zhang Kankan 张侃侃 the woman, is kinda &quot;unconventional&quot; in her line of though.</p>
<p>As a matter of fact the woman says “你的衣服很香” to Tan Jin 谈晋，who is a male.
And Tan Jin is taken by surprise, he thinks that this sentence is unconventional, <em>coming from her</em>, because it's normally said by a male to a female, and not the other way around (he says 不要随便说男生的台词).</p>
<p>So he feels a little bit 无奈，or “我服了你了” toward Zhang Kankan unconventional approach, which is elegantly rendered as 甘拜下风, &quot;whatever&quot;, &quot;I raise white flag&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-22T12:27:17.100Z
2020-06-22T16:25:24.977Z
2020-06-22T16:25:24.977Z
blackgreen
<p>You just can't always put all the Chinese into English. Try to catch the idea.</p>
<p>“你衣服好香。”张侃侃呆愣愣地说。<br />
&quot;Your clothes smell nice.&quot; said Zhang Kankan distractedly.</p>
<p>谈晋心里一惊，<br />
Tan Jin was startled</p>
<p>对于张侃侃不按套路出牌的脑回路，<br />
that Zhang Kankan could pull such an unconventional trump,</p>
<p>他甘拜下风，<br />
he saw he was beaten</p>
<p>笑道：“不要随便说男生的台词。”<br />
He laughed and said, &quot;You shouldn't steal my lines.&quot;</p>
<p>（我才是那个应该主动的人，你别抢我的台词！）<br />
(I'm the flirt, don't nick my lines!)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-22T22:56:46.987Z
2020-06-22T23:06:57.383Z
2020-06-22T23:06:57.383Z
Pedroski
<p>It means that &quot;You don't use normal logic.&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-24T15:44:21.633Z
2020-06-27T10:22:19.213Z
2020-06-27T10:22:19.213Z
Nanmuhong Ye
<p>I'm reading a Chinese novel and I'm having trouble understanding something I feel is rather metaphorical.  张侃侃 is resisting being 追求ed by the flirtatious 谈晋.  张侃侃 tore her clothes and as she is changing, 谈晋 puts his clothes on 张侃侃's head.  张侃侃 says...</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“你衣服好香。”张侃侃呆愣愣地说。</p>
<p>谈晋心里一惊，对于张侃侃<strong>不按套路出牌的脑回路</strong>，他<a href="http://youdao.com/w/%E7%94%98%E6%8B%9C%E4%B8%8B%E9%A3%8E" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甘拜下风</a>，笑道：“不要随便说男生的台词。”<br />
<sub>(喜欢你，我也是, p.10)</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The part in bold literally means something like</p>
<blockquote>
<p>not in accordance with [不按] routine [套路] majiang-playing [出牌] brain [脑] circuits [回路]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>which is nonsense.  I think it's metaphorical.  Part of it seems answered <a href="https://hinative.com/zh-CN/questions/239733" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>: 不按套路出牌 is something like &quot;unconventional&quot; (see also <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17201/what-does-%E9%83%BD%E6%98%AF%E5%A5%97%E8%B7%AF-mean">this Q.</a>), so putting it together means something like &quot;unconventional brain circuitry&quot;, but I'm not sure this is correct.</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: What does 不按套路出牌的脑回路 mean?</p>

<meaning-in-context><idioms>
What does 不按套路出牌的脑回路 mean? "unconventional brain circuitry"?
# What does 不按套路出牌的脑回路 mean? "unconventional brain circuitry"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-22)

I'm reading a Chinese novel and I'm having trouble understanding something I feel is rather metaphorical. 张侃侃 is resisting being 追求ed by the flirtatious 谈晋. 张侃侃 tore her clothes and as she is changing, 谈晋 puts his clothes on 张侃侃's head. 张侃侃 says...

> “你衣服好香。”张侃侃呆愣愣地说。
>
> 谈晋心里一惊，对于张侃侃**不按套路出牌的脑回路**，他[甘拜下风](http://youdao.com/w/%E7%94%98%E6%8B%9C%E4%B8%8B%E9%A3%8E)，笑道：“不要随便说男生的台词。”  
> (喜欢你，我也是, p.10)

The part in bold literally means something like

> not in accordance with [不按] routine [套路] majiang-playing [出牌] brain [脑] circuits [回路]

which is nonsense. I think it's metaphorical. Part of it seems answered [here](https://hinative.com/zh-CN/questions/239733): 不按套路出牌 is something like "unconventional" (see also [this Q.](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/17201/what-does-%E9%83%BD%E6%98%AF%E5%A5%97%E8%B7%AF-mean)), so putting it together means something like "unconventional brain circuitry", but I'm not sure this is correct.

**Question**: What does 不按套路出牌的脑回路 mean?

**Tags:** meaning-in-context, idioms

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-06-22. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Let's break it down:

> 不按套路

套路 usually indicates a frame of reference, a set of rules ("routine" may be correct for some sports, like martial arts, or weight-lifting exercises; or the "every day routine"), and the term is often associated to playing cards or games. So 不按套路 means literally "not according to the rules", but **not** in the sense of cheating; more in the sense of "out of the box" as in "thinking out of the box", "unconventional", "unexpected".   
As if when playing Monopoly (大富翁) you land on one of the expensive lots and even if you could, you *don't* purchase it, contrary to what other players would do in the same situation.

> 出牌

And as a matter of fact we have 出牌，so 不按套路出牌 is something like "playing unconventionally". It doesn't refer to a specific (card) game. It's just used metaphorically here.

> 的

Just the noun modifier.

> 脑回路

As you correctly note, 回路 means "circuitry", "circuit", as in 电回路。 The variant 脑回路 here is also a relatively common term to indicate, by extension, the "circuits in your brain"

Putting it all together:

> 不按套路出牌的脑回路

I like your translation "unconventional brain circuitry". The meaning is that Zhang Kankan 张侃侃 the woman, is kinda "unconventional" in her line of though.

As a matter of fact the woman says “你的衣服很香” to Tan Jin 谈晋，who is a male.
And Tan Jin is taken by surprise, he thinks that this sentence is unconventional, *coming from her*, because it's normally said by a male to a female, and not the other way around (he says 不要随便说男生的台词).

So he feels a little bit 无奈，or “我服了你了” toward Zhang Kankan unconventional approach, which is elegantly rendered as 甘拜下风, "whatever", "I raise white flag".


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-06-22. Score: 1

You just can't always put all the Chinese into English. Try to catch the idea.

“你衣服好香。”张侃侃呆愣愣地说。  
"Your clothes smell nice." said Zhang Kankan distractedly.

谈晋心里一惊，  
Tan Jin was startled

对于张侃侃不按套路出牌的脑回路，  
that Zhang Kankan could pull such an unconventional trump,

他甘拜下风，  
he saw he was beaten

笑道：“不要随便说男生的台词。”  
He laughed and said, "You shouldn't steal my lines."

（我才是那个应该主动的人，你别抢我的台词！）  
(I'm the flirt, don't nick my lines!)


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### Answer by username_3 on 2020-06-24. Score: 1

It means that "You don't use normal logic."


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