This is often contrasted to another prefix 小 xiǎo "small little young", which, added to surnames, shows closeness and friendly affection in informal registers towards anyone more junior and at least slightly younger than the speaker. In its active use, the prefix 老 lǎo is most often added to surnames to show respect in informal registers towards anyone not definitively young. Other examples include 老天爷 老天爺 lǎotiānyé "(Lord of) Heavens", 老乡 老鄉 lǎoxiāng "fellow townspeople", 老虎 lǎohǔ " tiger", and even 老鼠 lǎoshǔ " mouse", an animal traditionally despised for its cultural character as well as its significant damages to humans. For example, 老师 老師 lǎoshī "teacher" is composed of 老 lǎo and 师 師 shī "teacher", and the original word for "teacher" 师 師 shī cannot be used alone. In Mandarin, the prefix is well-established enough that it is now inseparably fixed in many words, where its original meaning is lost.
老 is a common colloquial prefix of respect (partly out of the value of seniority conferred), its use dating back to some of the earliest Mandarin vernacular records.
#DEFINE FOREIGNER PLUS#
The use of the word 老外 began in the 1980s, likely as an abbreviation of the term 外國人 (foreigner) into 外 plus the prefix 老.Īs characters and words, 老 lǎo means "old senior aged" 外 wài means "out outside external outer", and by extension various meanings including "appearance faraway distant non-local foreign informal other unorthodox". The term usually does not refer to ethnic Han of non-Chinese citizenship or other East Asian ethnicities. "Laowai" is commonly used to refer to foreigners of non-Asian ethnicities. 'foreigner'), wàibīn ( 外宾 外賓 'foreigner guest'), guójì yǒurén 国际 友人 國際 友人 'international friend') and wàiguó pengyou ( 外國 朋友 外国 朋友 'foreigner friend'). Formal and polite Chinese terms for foreigner include wàiguórén ( simplified Chinese: 外国人 traditional Chinese: 外國人 lit. Laowai is the Pinyin pronunciation/transliteration of 老外 ( pinyin: lǎowài, lit. "old foreign"), an informal term or slang for "foreigner" and/or non-Chinese national, usually neutral but possibly impolite or loose in some circumstances.
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