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二手货 (èr shǒu huò) — secondhand goods; (slang, derogatory) a woman who is not a virgin; (slang, derogatory) a divorced woman

Definition

Literally 'secondhand goods', this noun is the neutral term for used items. As a slang insult it attacks women as 'used' (not a virgin, or divorced) — strongly derogatory, as example 2 shows.

noun
secondhand goods(slang, derogatory) a woman who is not a virgin(slang, derogatory) a divorced woman
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 二手货。
    Wǒ zài jiù huò shì chǎng mǎi le bù shǎo èr shǒu huò.
    I bought a lot of secondhand goods at the flea market.
  • “二手货”，。
    Tā yòng "èr shǒu huò" zhè ge cí mà rén, fēi cháng bù zūn zhòng.
    He used the word 'secondhand goods' to insult someone, which is very disrespectful.
  • 二手货。
    Tā lí hūn hòu bèi rén sī xià chēng wéi èr shǒu huò.
    After her divorce, she was privately called 'secondhand goods' by others.

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.

二手secondhand
二èrsecond手shǒuhand
偏正Modifier + head
货huògoods

二 and 手 together suggest something already passed through hands, and 货 is goods: secondhand goods.

Characters in this word

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

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 貨; 货 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
貝貝bèishell, money
Sound part声符shēngfú
化
化huà貨huò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 貨 pairs 化 (sound) with 貝 (shell, money) to write valuable goods; the simplified 货 is a shorthand.

Open 货 →
Appears in
Shopping & Errands

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