大老粗 (dà lǎo cū) — uncouth fellow; clod; rough-and-ready person

Definition

A self-deprecating or mildly humorous term for an uncouth, unrefined person — often used about oneself to mean 'rough and unpolished'. Collocates with 个 (一个大老粗).

noun
uncouth fellowclodrough-and-ready person
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 大老粗，。
    Tā zǒng shuō zì jǐ shì gè dà lǎo cū, qí shí xīn hěn xì.
    He always says he's a rough fellow, but actually he's very careful.
  • 大老粗，。
    Bié kàn tā shì gè dà lǎo cū, zuò qǐ shì lái tè bié rèn zhēn.
    Don't look at him as a clod; he's very serious when working.
  • ，大老粗。
    Nà ge nián dài, hěn duō dà lǎo cū dōu cān jiā le gé mìng.
    In those days, many uncouth fellows joined the revolution.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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
米米mǐrice
Sound part声符shēngfú
且
且qiě粗cū
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

粗 pairs 米 (rice), which points to its meaning, with 且, which gives a clue to its sound.

Open 粗 →

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