夫子 (fū zi) — Master (historically, a respectful term for Confucius or a Confucian teacher); pedant (modern colloquial, often sarcastic); (classical) husband; my husband
Definition
A classical and literary term with three main uses: a respectful address for Confucius or a Confucian teacher (孔夫子 = Master Kong), a sarcastic modern label for a 'pedant' who moralizes, and in classical prose a wife's word for 'my husband'.
noun
Master (historically, a respectful term for Confucius or a Confucian teacher)pedant (modern colloquial, often sarcastic)(classical) husbandmy husband
Examples
- 夫子。Kǒng fū zi shì zhōng guó gǔ dài zuì wěi dà de sī xiǎng jiā.Master Kong (Confucius) was the greatest thinker of ancient China.
- ，。Bié lǎo xiàng gè lǎo fū zi yí yàng shuō jiào, méi rén ài tīng.Don't keep preaching like an old pedant — no one wants to hear it.
- ，“夫子”，“夫子”。Gǔ wén zhōng, "fū zi" yǒu shí zhǐ zhàng fu, rú "huàn fū zi bú zhì".In classical texts, 夫子 sometimes means ‘husband’, as in 'called for her husband but he didn't come.'
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