Crème brûlée

[trien27]

娘子

I knew 新娘, but have never seen 娘子 until now. Why would it make her happy to call her 娘子? looks like it means something like mother:

娘 niáng​: mother / young lady

娘 is from 姑娘. 姑 might mean an old lady who's never married, like a 'spinster' as they say or "old maid" [古 in 姑 of 姑娘 signifies that she's beyond "old" [older than the marriageable age, whatever it may be depending on the time]. 娘, from ancient times means "young girl", where this definition of 娘 is still used in Japan today.

A young girl who marries and one day hopefully becomes a mother, [for the lack of a better word], is still 娘, but later 親 is added to it to make 娘親 = mother, and 娘 still retains its original meaning.

新娘 = bride = a newly married person [新] who will perhaps one day become a mother[娘親].

子 is added to 娘 = 娘子, where 子 is only an honorific suffix said only by husbands to their wives [the wife is most likely younger than the husband in ancient China, and therefore the "child" suffix.]

[skylee]

[the wife is most likely younger than the husband in ancient China, and therefore the "child" suffix.]

Are you sure this is correct? How about 老爺子?

[Shi Tong]

Thanks for the full explaination Trien.

Another word I've heard often for "old woman" is in Taiwanese, or maybe even Japanese which has been used in Taiwan, and I have no idea how to write it:

"ou2 ba1 sang4" is a kind of phonetic pinyin/ stab/guess at the "word"..

oops.. found it!!... MDBG:

欧巴桑: ōu​ba​sāng​: aunt (Japanese loanword, respectful appellation for any older female).

I dont think it's pronounced like this in Taiwan though!!!

[Kenny同志]

Try calling her 娘子. I bet she will be overjoyed.

Shi Tong, have you done it?

I am still waiting for the news.

[Shi Tong]

hahaha.. I did do it.. to my astonishment it was "well, that's just an old way of saying "wife""..

I was hoping for a really funny reaction- either a smack or a kiss, but neither was forthcoming!

[Kenny同志]

Poor Shi Tong.

[jbradfor]

It's "甜食"。

Umm, isn't that just sweets / desserts in general?

[Shi Tong]

yeah, sweet- dessert, etc....

Poor Shi Tong.

TBH, just happy I didn't get slapped.:lol: