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小崽子 (xiǎo zǎi zǐ) — (colloquial) young animal; infant; (offensive) bastard; son of a bitch; contemptible person

Definition

A colloquial noun that literally means 'little whelp / young animal' (e.g. kittens, puppies) but is most often used as a playful or insulting term for a child, depending on tone and context.

noun
(colloquial) young animalinfant(offensive) bastardson of a bitchcontemptible person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 小崽子。
    Zhè zhī māo shēng le sān zhī xiǎo zǎi zǐ.
    This cat gave birth to three kittens.
  • ，！
    Nǐ zhè ge xiǎo xiǎo zǎi zǐ, jìng gǎn tōu wǒ de dōng xī!
    You little bastard, how dare you steal my things!
  • ，。
    Tā xiǎo shí hou shì gè xiǎo xiǎo zǎi zǐ, xiàn zài dǎo tǐng dǒng shì de.
    He was a little brat when he was young, but now he's quite sensible.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

小xiǎosmall/young
崽子young animal/offspring
崽zǎiyoung animal子zǐoffspring/child
联合Coordinate

The 小 meaning 'small/young' combines with 崽子 'young animal/offspring' to refer to a young creature or insultingly a brat.

Characters in this word

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

  • 八八bāto divide; to separate
  • 丨丨gǔnsmall object

The shape of 小 comes from three small dots, later elongated into its strokes; the apparent parts 八 and 丨 are a later way of seeing it.

Open 小 →

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
山山shānmountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
思
思sī崽zǎi
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

崽 pairs 山 (mountain) with 思; 思 gives the sound, and 山 gives the meaning clue.

Open 崽 →

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

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →
Appears in
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