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老底 (lǎo de) — sb.'s past (especially secrets or shameful history); one's savings, family fortune, or inherited resources (colloquial)

Definition

A colloquial noun covering two related ideas: a person's hidden past or secrets, and a family's long-held wealth or resources. 揭老底 means to expose someone's history; 老底厚 means deep family resources.

noun
sb.'s past (especially secrets or shameful history)one's savingsfamily fortuneor inherited resources (colloquial)

Examples

  • 老底。
    Bié zài dà jiā miàn qián jiē tā de lǎo de.
    Don't expose his past in front of everyone.
  • 老底，。
    Tā jiā lǎo de hěn hòu, gēn běn bù dān xīn méi qián.
    His family has substantial resources; they're not worried about money at all.
  • 老底。
    Tā bǎ zì jǐ suǒ yǒu de lǎo de dōu gào sù le wǒ.
    He told me all about his background and past.

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.

老lǎoold
底dǐbase/origin

老 means old and 底 means base or origin, so together they point to what lies underneath from the past.

Characters in this word

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

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →

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
广广guǎngbuilding
Sound part声符shēngfú
氐
氐dī底dǐ
Same sound today

底 pairs 广 (building) with 氐, pointing to the bottom or foundation of a building. Some read 氐 as a bowing figure or tree root, adding a sense of 'down'.

Open 底 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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