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托儿 (tuō ér) — small tray or saucer (for teacups, etc.); shill, decoy (a person hired to pose as a customer to attract real buyers)

Definition

托儿 has two unrelated meanings: a small tray or saucer for carrying teacups, and a 'shill' — a person paid to pose as a customer to lure real buyers or post fake reviews.

noun
small tray or saucer (for teacups, etc.)shilldecoy (a person hired to pose as a customer to attract real buyers)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 托儿。
    Tā yòng tuō ér duān lái le liǎng bēi chá.
    He brought two cups of tea on a small tray.
  • ，托儿。
    Xiǎo xīn nà ge pái duì de rén, kě néng shì shāng jiā qǐng de tuō ér.
    Watch out for that person in line — they might be a shill hired by the business.
  • 托儿。
    Wǎng shàng nà xiē hǎo píng bù shǎo dōu shì tuō ér xiě de.
    Many of those online positive reviews were written by shills.

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.

托tuōsupport
儿érdiminutive/nominalizing

托 “support” with 儿 names a small supporting tray or decoy.

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
乇
乇tuō托tuō
Same sound today

托 is built from 手 (hand) and 乇, which gives the sound tuō.

Open 托 →

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

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
Appears in
Marketing & Sales

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