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哥儿们 (gē ér men) — buddies, pals (informal, used among male friends); term of address for a group of close male friends (like 'guys')

Definition

A very colloquial, male-bonding term — 'brothers, buddies, guys' among close male friends. More rough and familiar than neutral words like 朋友; 兄弟 is similar but often used in a more sentimental or sworn-brother sense.

noun
buddiespals (informal, used among male friends)term of address for a group of close male friends (like 'guys')

Examples

  • 哥儿们。
    Zhōu mò wǒ hé jǐ gè gē ér men yì qǐ dǎ qiú.
    On the weekend I played ball with some buddies.
  • 哥儿们，？
    gē ér men, Nǐ men néng bù néng xiǎo shēng yì diǎn?
    Hey, guys, could you keep it down a bit?
  • 。
    Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo de gē ér men zhī yī.
    He's one of my best pals.

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.

哥儿
哥gēbrother儿ércolloquial
们menmany

It builds on 哥, meaning brother, while 儿 gives a colloquial feel and 们 adds a sense of many, yielding buddies.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 哥 →

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 →

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 們; 们 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén們men
Same sound today

The traditional form 們 uses 亻 for a person and 門 for the sound; the simplified 们 is a later shorthand.

Open 们 →
Appears in
Friends & Social

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