三陪 (sān péi) — (noun) escort or hostess in entertainment venues, often with implied sexual services

Definition

三陪 refers to women hired in bars/KTV/nightclubs to drink, chat, and entertain male clients, with implied sexual services. It is a slangy, euphemistic term tied to the nightlife industry, not a neutral word.

noun
escort or hostess in entertainment venues, often with implied sexual services
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 三陪。
    Tā yǐ qián zài yè zǒng huì zuò guò sān péi.
    She used to work as a hostess in a nightclub.
  • 三陪。
    Nà ge dì fāng yǒu hěn duō sān péi tí gōng fú wù.
    That place has many escorts providing services.
  • 三陪。
    Zhèng fǔ yán lì dǎ jī fēi fǎ sān péi huó dòng.
    The government cracks down on illegal escort activities.

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.

三sānthree
陪péiaccompany

三 marks three kinds of accompanying service, and 陪 is the act of accompanying, together naming an escort.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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
阜阜fùsoil mountain
Sound part声符shēngfú
咅
咅pǒu陪péi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

陪 pairs 阜, a mound of piled-up soil, with 咅 as a sound part; the mound gives the sense of joining up or staying close, as in accompanying.

Open 陪 →

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