艳福 (yàn fú) — romantic luck/fortune (especially for men); luck with women

Definition

A colloquial noun meaning a man's 'romantic luck' — especially success with attractive women. Traditionally gender-specific to men and somewhat playful or teasing in tone.

noun
romantic luck/fortune (especially for men)luck with women

Examples

  • 艳福。
    Dà jiā dōu xiàn mù tā de yàn fú.
    Everyone envies his luck in love.
  • 艳福，。
    Tā zhēn yǒu yàn fú, nǚ péng you yí gè bǐ yí gè piào liang.
    He's really lucky in love — each girlfriend is more beautiful than the last.
  • ，艳福。
    Zhè cì lǚ xíng tā yù dào le bù shǎo měi nǚ, zhēn shì yàn fú bù qiǎn.
    This trip, he met many beautiful women — his romantic fortune is truly deep.

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.

艳yànbeautiful; romantic
福fúfortune

"艳" suggests beauty or love and "福" fortune, together mean romantic luck.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 豔; 艳 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
豐豐fēngabundant, great
Sound part声符shēngfú
盇
盇hé豔yàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 豔 pairs 豐 (abundant, great) with a sound component 盇; the simplified 艳 is a later abbreviation.

Open 艳 →

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
示示shì
Sound part声符shēngfú
畐
畐fú福fú
Same sound today

福 combines 示 and 畐, with 示 carrying the meaning and 畐 the sound.

Open 福 →

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