Definition
老大哥 (literally 'old big brother') is a culturally loaded term famously borrowed from George Orwell's novel 1984, where 'Big Brother' represents an omnipresent authoritarian regime. In Chinese, it can still refer to an elder brother or a senior male figure in a group (especially in informal or dialectal contexts), but its dominant modern use is political: a symbol of state surveillance and control, often invoked in discussions about privacy, censorship, or totalitarianism.
n.
Big Brother (authoritarian figure or system, from Orwell's 1984)elder brother (respectful term for a senior male, less common in modern usage)
Examples
- ，老大哥。Zài zhè bù xiǎoshuō li, lǎo dà gē xiàngzhēng zhe wúchù bú zài de jiānkòng.In this novel, Big Brother symbolizes ubiquitous surveillance.
- 老大哥。Hěn duō rén dānxīn lǎo dà gē yíyàng de zhèngquán huì qīnfàn gèrén zìyóu.Many people worry that a Big Brother-like regime will infringe on personal freedom.
- ，老大哥，。Zài wǒmen cūnzi li, dàjiā dōu jiào tā lǎo dà gē, yīnwèi tā niánjì zuì dà.In our village, everyone calls him Big Brother because he is oldest.
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