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回老家 (huí lǎo jiā) — return to one's hometown; (colloquial euphemism) to pass away, to die

Definition

回老家 literally means 'go back to one's hometown' but is also used as a soft, colloquial euphemism for 'pass away' — the journey-home meaning is always literal, the dying meaning is figurative.

verb
return to one's hometown(colloquial euphemism) to pass awayto die

Examples

  • 回老家。
    Chūn jié wǒ dǎ suàn huí lǎo jiā guò nián.
    I plan to go back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year.
  • 。
    Wǒ yǐ jīng sān nián méi yǒu huí yí cì lǎo jiā le.
    I haven't gone back to my hometown even once in three years.
  • 回老家。
    Tīng shuō lǐ dà yé qù nián yǐ jīng huí lǎo jiā le.
    I heard that Uncle Li passed away last year.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

回 comes from a drawing of a spiral, showing something turning around.

Open 回 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Countryside & Rural

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