打工仔 (dǎ gōng zǎi) — (colloquial) male migrant worker, blue-collar employee

Definition

打工仔 refers to a young male blue-collar or migrant worker, especially one hustling in a big city away from home. Colloquial and somewhat informal; the broader term 打工者 covers all genders.

noun
(colloquial) male migrant workerblue-collar employee
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 打工仔，。
    Tā yǐ qián shì gè dǎ gōng zǎi, xiàn zài zì jǐ kāi le gōng sī.
    He used to be a migrant worker, and now he's started his own company.
  • 打工仔。
    Hěn duō dǎ gōng zǎi chūn jié dōu yào huí lǎo jiā guò nián.
    Many migrant workers go back to their hometowns for the Spring Festival.
  • 打工仔圳。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng de shì jǐ gè dǎ gōng zǎi zài shēn zhèn dǎ pīn de gù shi.
    This movie tells the story of a few migrant workers struggling in Shenzhen.

Origin

Derived word
构词法gòucífǎ
后缀hòuzhuìSuffix

A fixed syllable at the end that turns the word into a noun, a person, a place or the like.

打工to work
打dǎdo工gōngwork
动宾Verb + object
仔zǎimale/young person

打工 refers to working, and 仔 gives the sense of a male worker.

Characters in this word

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

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
人人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
子
子zǐ仔zǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

仔 puts 人 (person) next to 子, which gives the sound.

Open 仔 →

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