老牛

Chinese

Etymology 1

		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	ox; cow; bull
trad. (老牛)		老	牛
simp. ^#(老牛)		老	牛

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): lǎoniú

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ ngau⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: lǎoniú
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: lǎonióu
  - Wade–Giles: lao³-niu²
  - Yale: lǎu-nyóu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laoniou
  - Palladius: лаоню (laonju)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ni̯oʊ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lou⁵ ngau⁴
  - Yale: lóuh ngàuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ ngau⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ngeo⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ ŋɐu̯²¹/

Noun

老牛

old cow; used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 老 (lǎo),‎ 牛 (niú).

Derived terms

老牛聲 / 老牛声
老牛食嫩草

Etymology 2

		prefix	jeans
trad. (老牛)		老	牛
simp. ^#(老牛)		老	牛

From 老 (lou⁵) + clipping of 牛仔褲 / 牛仔裤 (ngau⁴ zai² fu³, “jeans”).

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ ngau^4-2

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lou⁵ ngau^4-2
  - Yale: lóuh ngáu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ ngau^4-2
  - Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ngeo^4-2
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ ŋɐu̯²¹⁻³⁵/

Noun

老牛

(Hong Kong Cantonese, colloquial) jeans (Classifier: 條／条 c)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 牛仔褲 (“jeans”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		牛仔褲
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	牛仔褲
	Taiwan	牛仔褲
	Chifeng	牛仔褲
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	牛仔兒褲
	Harbin	牛仔褲
	Shenyang	牛仔褲
	Malaysia	牛仔褲
	Singapore	牛仔褲
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	牛仔褲
	Tangshan	牛仔褲
	Cangzhou	牛仔兒褲
	Baoding	牛仔褲
	Shijiazhuang	牛仔褲
	Jinan	牛仔褲
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	牛仔褲兒
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Qingdao	牛仔褲兒
Central Plains Mandarin	Wanrong	牛仔褲
	Zhengzhou	牛仔褲
	Xi'an	牛仔褲
	Xining	牛仔褲
	Xuzhou	牛仔褲
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	牛仔褲
	Lanzhou	牛仔褲
	Ürümqi	牛仔褲
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	牛仔褲
	Wuhan	牛仔褲
	Guiyang	牛仔褲
	Kunming	牛仔褲
	Guilin	牛仔褲
	Liuzhou	牛仔褲
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	牛仔褲
	Yangzhou	牛仔褲
	Nantong	牛仔褲
	Hefei	牛仔褲
Cantonese	Guangzhou	牛仔褲
	Hong Kong	牛仔褲, 牛記, 老牛
	Taishan	牛仔褲
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	牛仔褲
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	牛仔褲
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	牛仔褲
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	牛仔褲
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	牛仔褲
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	牛仔褲
Huizhou	Shexian	牛仔褲
Jin	Taiyuan	牛仔褲
	Xinzhou	牛仔褲
	Linhe	牛仔褲
	Jining	牛仔褲
	Hohhot	牛仔褲
	Zhangjiakou	牛仔褲
	Handan	牛仔褲
Eastern Min	Fuqing	牛囝褲
Eastern Min	Matsu	牛囝褲
Southern Min	Xiamen	牛仔褲
	Taipei (Wanhua)	拍鐵仔褲
	Kaohsiung	拍鐵仔褲
	Yilan	拍鐵仔褲
	Changhua (Lukang)	牛仔褲
	Taichung	牛仔褲
	Taichung (Wuqi)	牛仔褲
	Tainan	牛仔褲, 拍鐵仔褲
	Taitung	拍鐵仔褲
	Hsinchu	拍鐵仔褲
	Penghu (Magong)	拍鐵仔褲
	Singapore (Hokkien)	牛仔褲
	Manila (Hokkien)	牛仔褲
	Jieyang	牛囝褲
	Haifeng	牛仔褲
	Wenchang	牛囝褲
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	牛仔褲
Wu	Shanghai	牛仔褲
Wu	Suzhou	牛仔褲

Etymology 3

		prefix	ox; beef
trad. (老牛)		老	牛
simp. ^#(老牛)		老	牛

Pronunciation

Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ ngau^4-2

Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lou⁵ ngau^4-2
  - Yale: lóuh ngáu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ ngau^4-2
  - Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ngeo^4-2
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ ŋɐu̯²¹⁻³⁵/

Noun

老牛

(Hong Kong Cantonese, slang) knife for cutting beef (a common weapon among triads) (Classifier: 把 c)
- 1993, Flirting Scholar:
  
  我左邊龍，右邊虎，老牛在腰間，龍頭在心口，人擋殺人，佛擋殺佛！ [Cantonese, trad.]
  我左边龙，右边虎，老牛在腰间，龙头在心口，人挡杀人，佛挡杀佛！ [Cantonese, simp.]
  ngo⁵ zo² bin¹ lung⁴, jau⁶ bin¹ fu², lou⁵ ngau^4-2 zoi⁶ jiu¹ gaan¹, lung⁴ tau⁴ zoi⁶ sam¹ hau², jan⁴ dong² saat³ jan⁴, fat⁶ dong² saat³ fat⁶! [Jyutping]
  Azure Dragon (tattoo) on my left, White Tiger (tattoo) on my right, knife at my waist and Yellow Dragon (tattoo) on my chest. If a man stands in my way I kill him. If the Buddha stands in my way I kill him!

Synonyms

(knife for cutting beef): 牛肉刀