老姑娘 (lǎo gū niáng) — old maid (unmarried woman, often pejorative); youngest daughter (in a family)
Definition
老姑娘 is colloquial and usually pejorative for an unmarried woman past typical marrying age. In some dialects/families it simply means the youngest daughter.
noun
old maid (unmarried woman, often pejorative)youngest daughter (in a family)
Measure word · 个
Examples
- ，老姑娘。Tā sān shí duō suì hái méi jié hūn, bié rén dōu jiào tā lǎo gū niáng.She's over thirty and still unmarried; people call her an old maid.
- 老姑娘，。Tā shì jiā lǐ de lǎo gū niáng, fù mǔ zuì téng tā.She is the youngest daughter in the family; her parents dote on her the most.
- ，老姑娘。Zài nà ge nián dài, dāng lǎo gū niáng shì yí jiàn hěn diū liǎn de shì.In those days, being an old maid was a very shameful thing.
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 means old or youngest and 姑娘 means girl or daughter, so the word can name an unmarried woman or the last daughter.
Appears in
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