三姑六婆

三姑六婆

Chinese

		three	paternal aunt	six	grandmother; matron; mother-in-law
simp. and trad. (三姑六婆)		三	姑	六	婆

Etymology

Refers to the three 姑 (gū):

• 尼姑 (nígū, “Buddhist nun”),
• 道姑 (dàogū, “Taoist nun”), and
• 卦姑 (guàgū, “female fortune teller”),

and the six 婆 (pó):

• 牙婆 (yápó, “female human trafficker”),
• 媒婆 (méipó, “female matchmaker”),
• 師婆／师婆 (shīpó, “sorceress”),
• 虔婆 (qiánpó, “female brothel keeper”),
• 藥婆／药婆 (yàopó, “female doctor”), and
• 穩婆／稳婆 (wěnpó, “female midwife”).

In ancient China, women of these occupations often swindled money from people and were not reputable.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sāngūliùpó

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄍㄨ ㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄆㄛˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ gu¹ luk⁶ po⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: sāngūliùpó
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄍㄨ ㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄆㄛˊ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanguliowpor
    • IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ku⁵⁵ li̯oʊ̯⁵¹ pʰu̯ɔ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ gu¹ luk⁶ po⁴
    • Yale: sāam gū luhk pòh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ gu¹ luk⁹ po⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ gu¹ lug⁶ po⁴
    • IPA ^(key): /säːm⁵⁵ kuː⁵⁵ lʊk̚² pʰɔː²¹/

Idiom

三姑六婆

1. women with disreputable or illegal professions
2. (figuratively) (female) gossipmongers