劳驾 - literal meaning

[rtf]

Hello,everyone!

 

I`ve been using 劳驾 (Excuse me! May I trouble you?) for ages but only today I got curious how this meaning can be derived from the two constituents 'work hard + harness (a horse)'? Is it like 'Excuse me! Please,harness my hourse'? Then what does it have to do with 劳驾 in a dialog like this: 

 

同志，您下车吗？

我不下

劳驾，我们下车

 

The person addressed must be in someone`s way,so the latter says smth like 'Excuse me! Please,harness my horse, as I`m getting off',which is not the case,I`m afraid.

 

 

Would appreciate if someone shared his idea.

 

 

Thank you.

[Lanchong]

According to the 现代汉规范语词典, 劳驾 can be read as: 有劳大驾. The 大驾 here refers to the emperor's carriage and 驾／大驾 later became a polite way to refer to other people.

[rtf]

Thanks,Lanchong. Is it 我有劳，大驾 (I have gratitude,sir/madam)?

 

And I`m just curious who said 有劳大驾 to the the emperor's carriage and for what?

 

Thanks again.

[davoosh]

"老北京一般麻煩別人的時候都會説“勞駕”，這個詞是怎麼來的呢？

    勞駕是北京人經常挂在嘴邊兒上的一句禮貌用語，它算是地道的北京土話。勞駕一詞是由“勞”引申出來的。 “勞”字本是北京人常用的客氣詞兒，有煩勞、勞動、勞人的含義。

    老北京人在請求別人幫助或搭把手的時候，一般會説：“勞您費費神。”或“這事還得勞您跑一趟。”有時也直接説“勞動”，比如：“勞動您把東西挪一挪。”或“師傅，勞動您幫我抬一下兒。”

    勞駕這個詞兒是怎麼來的呢？老北京的代步工具多是馬車騾車以及轎子或騎驢，“駕”最早是趕車和趕馬的術語，以後成了敬詞兒，如“駕到”、“大駕光臨”等，據説把“勞”與“駕”糅到一起，成為客氣話的最初是老北京趕車和趕馬的，以後推而廣之，成為大眾的日常用語。

    勞駕，有的為加重語氣和更敬一步，也被北京人説成“勞您一駕”或“勞您大駕”。在北京，勞駕的應用極廣，求人幫忙，借東西，請人搭把手，請人讓路，出門打聽道兒，都會用到它。一聲勞駕，會讓人覺得您很懂禮貌。"

[imron]

Then what does it have to do with 劳驾 in a dialog like this:

Just sayin', you might want to update your learning materials.  If you try busting out Chinese like that, you're going to get a whole lot of strange looks.

[somethingfunny]

I'm with Imron here.  Chinese forums is the only place I've ever seen anyone use 劳驾.

 

Just be Chinese and use your horn.

[Xiao Kui]

Should I feel like an idiot because I've never used 劳驾 or heard it used？

[abcdefg]

Agree with the others, in my experience it's very seldom used in speech.

[Guest realmayo]

Is 劳驾 more a northern thing?

[roddy]

I can imagine it being used, but in the context of, eg, a supermarket employee trying to move a load of stock past some customers, rather than trying to get past your mum in the kitchen 

[imron]

I'm with Imron here.  Chinese forums is the only place I've ever seen anyone use 劳驾.

I was referring more to the:

 

同志，您下车吗？

 

In mainland China at least, what you will actually hear in real life (if you hear anything at all) is just: 下车吗？

 

劳驾 I've heard quite a bit, but yes, I think it's more a northern thing.

[Shelley]

I also thought wow that must be an old text book if it uses 同志. It has a rude slang meaning too, so I would never use it.

[imron]

It's actually still used regularly without that slang meaning in the north of china, but either it's used in jest or to address maybe party officials or people in uniform.

You probably wouldn't use it to address random strangers on public transport.

[Kenny同志]

搜搜”勞駕“ at http://m.soshen.cn/soshen/. Remember to use traditional script.

[somethingfunny]

Whenever I hear anyone saying 同志 or 同志们 it always seems to be with their tongue very much in their cheek.

[rtf]

Thanks everyone for your contribution.Especially Xiao Kui, and somethingfunny.