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老太婆 (lǎo tài pó) — old woman (colloquial, sometimes slightly derogatory)

Definition

Colloquial term for 'old woman', often slightly rude or jokey — calling a stranger this can sound disrespectful. Prefer 老太太 for a neutral or polite way to say 'old lady'.

noun
old woman (colloquial, sometimes slightly derogatory)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 老太婆。
    Nà ge lǎo tài pó měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu zài gōng yuán lǐ sàn bù.
    That old woman takes a walk in the park every morning.
  • 老太婆，。
    Bié jiào rén jiā lǎo tài pó, zhè yàng bù lǐ mào.
    Don't call her 'old woman', that's impolite.
  • 老太婆，。
    Zhè ge lǎo tài pó suī rán nián jì dà le, dàn shēn tǐ hěn hǎo.
    Although this old woman is old, she is in good health.

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.

老lǎoold
太婆great-grandmother
太tàigreat婆pógrandmother
偏正Modifier + head

老 means old, and 太婆 denotes a great-grandmother or elderly woman; together they refer to an old woman.

Characters in this word

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.

太 is a modified form of 大, with an extra dot added to show 'too big'.

Open 太 →

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
女女nǚwoman
Sound part声符shēngfú
波
波bō婆pó
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

婆 pairs 女 (woman) with 波, which gives the sound. The 女 part shows the character is about a woman.

Open 婆 →
Appears in
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