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打炮 (dǎ pào) — (literal) to fire a cannon; (slang, vulgar) to visit a brothel or engage in a specific sexual act

Definition

Literally 'fire a cannon'; also slang/vulgar for visiting a brothel (旧社会 / historical contexts). The crude sexual sense is informal — avoid in formal writing or polite speech.

verb
(literal) to fire a cannon(slang, vulgar) to visit a brothel or engage in a specific sexual act

Examples

  • 打炮。
    Shì bīng men zài zhèn dì shàng dǎ pào.
    Soldiers are firing cannons on the battlefield.
  • 。
    Tā men dǎ le yí pào jiù chè tuì le.
    They fired one cannon shot and then retreated.
  • ，打炮。
    Zài jiù shè huì, shì bīng yǒu shí huì qù dǎ pào.
    In the old society, soldiers would sometimes go to visit brothels.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

打dǎfire
炮pàocannon

打 means to fire or shoot, and 炮 means cannon; together they describe firing a cannon.

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 →

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
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
包
包bāo炮pào
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

炮 combines 火 and 包; 包 supplies the sound.

Open 炮 →
Appears in
Military & Defense

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