熟客 (shú kè) — regular customer, frequent patron

Definition

A 'regular customer' — someone a shop knows well and welcomes back often. 熟客 emphasizes familiarity (the staff recognizes them), while 老顾客 stresses long-time loyalty.

noun
regular customerfrequent patron
Measure word · 位

Examples

  • 熟客。
    Zhè jiā diàn de lǎo bǎn rèn shi měi yí gè shú kè.
    The boss of this shop knows every regular customer.
  • 熟客，。
    shú kè Lái de shí hou, fú wù yuán huì jì zhù tā men xǐ huan shén me.
    When regulars come, the waitstaff remembers what they like.
  • 熟客，。
    Tā yǐ jīng shì wǒ men de lǎo shú kè le, bàn le huì yuán kǎ.
    He is already our old regular customer and has gotten a membership card.

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.

熟shúfamiliar
客kèguest

熟 means familiar and 客 means guest; together they describe a familiar guest.

Characters in this word

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

熟 combines 孰 (cooked; ripe) with 灬 (fire), showing food cooked with fire.

Open 熟 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

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