偷油婆

Chinese

FWOTD – 1 June 2017

	to steal; to pilfer	oil; sly	grandmother; matron; mother-in-law
trad. (偷油婆)	偷	油	婆
simp. ^#(偷油婆)	偷	油	婆
Literally: “oil-stealing woman”.

Etymology

So named because of the shininess of its wings, which was thought to be from oil stolen from the kitchen, a common place where cockroaches are found.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): tōuyóupó

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄡㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄛˊ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): tou¹ you² po²
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): tou¹ iou² bo²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tōuyóupó
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄡㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄛˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: touyóupó
  - Wade–Giles: tʻou¹-yu²-pʻo²
  - Yale: tōu-yóu-pwó
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: touyoupor
  - Palladius: тоуюпо (toujupo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ joʊ̯³⁵ pʰu̯ɔ³⁵/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: tou¹ you² po²
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: toujupo
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰəu⁵⁵ iəu²¹ pʰo²¹/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: tou¹ iou² bo²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰəu̯³³ i̯əu̯¹³ po¹³/

Noun

偷油婆

(chiefly Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang, Dong'an Tuhua) cockroach (Classifier: 隻／只 m)
- 偷油婆他們燒來吃過的。 [MSC, trad.]
  偷油婆他们烧来吃过的。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1948, 艾蕪, 鄉愁
  Tōuyóupó tāmen shāo lái chī guò de. [Pinyin]
  They have roasted cockroaches to eat before.
- 偷油婆到處爬，腳上也有細菌，它爬過的東西還有臭氣，吃了要發嘔。 [MSC, trad.]
  偷油婆到处爬，脚上也有细菌，它爬过的东西还有臭气，吃了要发呕。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1958 April 7, 許川 and 白丁, 毛主席使紅光社大方紅光, in 四川日報
  Tōuyóupó dàochù pá, jiǎo shàng yě yǒu xìjūn, tā pá guò de dōngxī háiyǒu chòuqì, chī le yào fā'ǒu. [Pinyin]
  The cockroaches crawl all over the place, and there are germs on their legs. Also, things that they have crawled over have a stench, and if you eat them, you will feel like vomiting.
- 開冰箱時鑽進了一隻偷油婆，特別肥大，特別狡猾。 [MSC, trad.]
  开冰箱时钻进了一只偷油婆，特别肥大，特别狡猾。 [MSC, simp.]
  From: 2010, 马骥 and 王跃, 少城轶事, page 193
  Kāi bīngxiāng shí zuān jìn le yī zhī tōuyóupó, tèbié féidà, tèbié jiǎohuá. [Pinyin]
  When the fridge was opened, in crawled a cockroach, which was especially fat and cunning.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 蟑螂 (“cockroach”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		蜚蠊, 䗅蜋, 香娘子
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		蟑螂, 蜚蠊
Taxonomic name		蜚蠊
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	老蟑兒, 油炸豆兒
	Taiwan	蟑螂, 小強
	Ulanhot	老蟑
	Tongliao	蟑螂
	Chifeng	蟑螂
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	蟑螂
	Harbin	蟑螂, 老蟑
	Shenyang	老蟑
	Malaysia	蟑螂
	Singapore	蟑螂
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	蟑螂
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	蟑火螂
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	蟑螂
	Xuzhou	蟑螂
	Pizhou	蟑螂
	Lianyungang (Ganyu)	蟑螂
	Donghai	蟑螂
Lanyin Mandarin	Bayanhot	蟑螂
	Lanzhou	蟑螂
	Ürümqi	蟑螂, 油蟲
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	偷油婆, 蟑螂
	Chongqing	偷油婆
	Wuhan	灶馬子
	Guiyang	偷油婆
	Kunming	偷油婆
	Liuzhou	偷油婆, 臊甲
	Nanning (Wuming)	騷夾
	Kokang	灶麻雞
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	蟑螂, 灶馬雞
	Yangzhou	蟑木蟲子
	Baoying	蟑木蟲子
	Taizhou	蟑木蟲
	Zhenjiang	灶雞雞
	Lianyungang	蟑螂
	Huai'an (Huaiyin)	紅蟲子
	Xuyi	放屁蟲
	Nantong	蟑木蟲兒
	Rugao	蟑木蟲兒
	Yancheng	蟑木蟲子
	Funing	蟑木蟲子
	Sihong	放屁蟲
Cantonese	Guangzhou	曱甴
	Hong Kong	曱甴, 小強
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	曱甴
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	曱甴
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	曱甴
	Macau	曱甴
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	曱甴
	Taishan	曱甴
	Dongguan	曱甴
	Shaoguan	曱甴
	Yangjiang	曱甴
	Xinyi	曱甴
	Maoming (Xinpo)	曱甴
	Nanning	曱甴
	Nanning (Tanka)	曱甴
	Baise	曱甴
	Beihai	曱甴
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	曱甴
	Penang (Guangfu)	曱甴
	Ipoh (Guangfu)	曱甴
	Singapore (Guangfu)	曱甴
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	曱甴
	Yangon (Taishan)	曱甴
	Mandalay (Taishan)	曱甴
Gan	Nanchang	煠撥子, 赤膊子
	Pengze	鍋灶髦
	Lichuan	蚻
	Pingxiang	油賊婆
	Guixi	煠撥子
Hakka	Meixian	黃蚻
	Xingning	黃蚻
	Huiyang	黃蚻
	Huidong (Daling)	黃蚻
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	黃蚻
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	蜞蚻
	Wengyuan	黃蚻
	Nanxiong (Zhuji)	黃蚻
	Shaoguan (Qujiang)	黃蚻
	Liannan	黃蚻
	Jiexi	蜞蚻
	Luhe	蜞蚻
	Zhao'an (Xiuzhuan)	黃蚻
	Changting	黃蚻
	Wuping	黃蚻
	Wuping (Yanqian)	黃蚻
	Wuping (Pingyu)	黃蚻
	Liancheng	黃蚻
	Ninghua	黃蚻
	Yudu	黃蚻
	Ningdu	黃蚻
	Ruijin	黃蚻
	Shicheng	黃蚻
	Shangyou (Shexi)	黃蚻
	Tonggu (Sandu)	虼蚻
	Ganzhou (Panlong)	黃蚻
	Dayu	黃蚻
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Miaoli (Gongguan; N. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; N. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Pingtung (Wuluo, Ligang; S. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Kaohsiung (Meinong; S. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Kaohsiung (Shanlin; S. Sixian)	黃蚻
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	蜞蚻, 蜞蚻仔
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	黃蚻
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	蜞蚻
	Miaoli (Zhuolan; Raoping)	黃蚻
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	黃蚻
	Hong Kong	黃蚻
	Mengshan (Xihe)	黃蚻
	Luchuan	黃蚻
	Sabah (Longchuan)	黃蚻
	Senai (Huiyang)	蜞蚻
	Kuching (Hepo)	蜞蚻
	Singkawang	蜞蚻
Huizhou	Jixi	油蟲
	Shexian	蟑油蟲
	Fuliang	油蟲
Jin	Taiyuan	蟑螂
	Taibus (Baochang)	蟑螂
	Linhe	蟑螂
	Jining	蟑老財
	Hohhot	蟑螂
	Baotou	蟑老財
	Dongsheng	蟑螂
	Haibowan	蟑螂
Jiuxing Yumin	Lanxi	蟑毛蟲
Northern Min	Jian'ou	蚻
	Jian'ou (Dikou)	蚻
	Songxi	蚻
	Zhenghe	蚻
	Zhenghe (Zhenqian)	蚻
	Jianyang	蚻
	Wuyishan	蚻
	Pucheng (Shibei)	蚻
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	虼蚻
	Fuzhou (Changle)	蚻母
	Fuqing	虼蚻
	Yongtai	虼蚻
	Gutian	蚻母
	Fu'an	蚻
	Ningde	蚻母
	Shouning	蚻
	Zhouning	蚻
	Fuding	蚻, 虼蚻
	Matsu	灶蚻
Southern Min	Xiamen	虼蚻
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	虼蚻
	Quanzhou	虼蚻
	Jinjiang	虼蚻
	Nan'an	虼蚻
	Anxi	虼蚻
	Yongchun	虼蚻
	Dehua	虼蚻
	Zhangzhou	虼蚻
	Zhangzhou (Longhai)	虼蚻
	Zhangzhou (Changtai)	虼蚻
	Hua'an	虼蚻
	Zhangpu	虼蚻
	Yunxiao	虼蚻
	Dongshan	虼蚻
	Taipei	虼蚻
	New Taipei (Sanxia)	虼蚻
	Kaohsiung	虼蚻
	Yilan	虼蚻
	Changhua (Lukang)	虼蚻
	Taichung	虼蚻
	Taichung (Wuqi)	虼蚻
	Tainan	虼蚻
	Taitung	虼蚻
	Hsinchu	虼蚻
	Kinmen	虼蚻
	Penghu (Magong)	虼蚻
	Penang (Hokkien)	虼蚻
	Singapore (Hokkien)	虼蚻
	Manila (Hokkien)	虼蚻
	Longyan	虼蚻
	Zhangping (Yongfu)	虼蚻仔
	Datian	油蚻
	Pingnan (Shangdu)	虼蚻
	Chaozhou	虼蚻
	Shantou	虼蚻
	Shantou (Chenghai)	虼蚻
	Jieyang	虼蚻
	Haifeng	虼蚻
	Bangkok (Teochew)	虼蚻
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	虼蚻
	Singapore (Teochew)	虼蚻
	Leizhou	虼蚻
	Wenchang	虼蚻
	Haikou	虼蚻
	Singapore (Hainanese)	虼蚻
Puxian Min	Putian	虼蚻
	Putian (Donghai, Chengxiang)	虼蚻, 灶雞
	Putian (Jiangkou, Hanjiang)	虼蚻
	Putian (Nanri, Xiuyu)	虼蚻
	Xianyou	虼蚻
	Xianyou (Fengting)	虼蚻
	Xianyou (Youyang)	虼蚻
Central Min	Yong'an	蚻
	Sanming (Sanyuan)	蚻
	Sanming (Shaxian)	蚻
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Sanxiang)	虼蚻
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	臊甲
Waxiang	Yuanling (Shaojiwan)	油蟲
Wu	Shanghai	蟑螂, 小強
	Shanghai (Songjiang)	灶雞, 蟑螂
	Shanghai (Jiading)	蟑螂
	Shanghai (Chongming)	灶鴨
	Suzhou	蟑螂
	Wuxi	蟑螂
	Changshu	蟑螂
	Nantong (Haimen)	灶雞
	Changzhou	蟑螂
	Danyang	蟑螂, 灶雞雞
	Nanjing (Gaochun)	蟑虼螂
	Hangzhou	蟑螂
	Ningbo	蟑螂
	Wenzhou	膠蚻
Xiang	Changsha	偷油婆
	Xiangtan	偷油婆
	Loudi	油鹽蟲
	Hengyang	油炸婆
	Quanzhou	臊甲子
Xiangnan Tuhua	Dong'an	油蟲, 偷油婆, 騷家婆
Yuebei Tuhua	Shaoguan (Dacun, Baitu, Qujiang)	枯蚻
	Shaoguan (Xiangyang, Xihe, Wujiang)	枯蚻
	Shaoguan (Shibei, Xinshao, Zhenjiang)	枯蚻
	Renhua (Zhoutian)	枯蚻
	Renhua (Shitang)	枯蚻
	Ruyuan (Songwei, Guitou)	枯蚻
	Lechang (Changlai)	枯蚻
	Lechang (Beixiang)	曱甴
	Lechang (Huangpu)	客子婆
	Lechang (Guitang, Pingshi)	瞎擦
	Lechang (Sanxi)	臊雞婆