门子 (mén zǐ) — knack; trick; special method (often in 找门子); doorman; gatekeeper (esp. in a traditional yamen); hanger-on of an aristocrat; sycophant
Definition
门子 is a literary/classical noun with three distinct senses: 'knack/trick' (often in 找门子, 'to find the right connection'), 'doorman/gatekeeper' at a yamen, and 'hanger-on of a powerful person'. It is rare in modern spoken Chinese.
noun
knacktrickspecial method (often in 找门子)doormangatekeeper (esp. in a traditional yamen)hanger-on of an aristocratsycophant
Examples
- ，。Zuò zhè jiàn shì nǐ dé zhǎo duì mén zǐ, bù rán hěn nán chéng gōng.To do this, you need to find the right trick, otherwise it's hard to succeed.
- 门子，。Tā zài yá men lǐ dāng guò jǐ nián mén zǐ, hòu lái cái shēng le guān.He worked as a doorman in the yamen for a few years, and only later got promoted.
- 门子，。Nà xiē mén zǐ zhěng tiān tǎo hǎo bā jie guì zú, méi shén me zhēn běn shì.Those hangers-on spend all their time flattering aristocrats; they have no real ability.
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