打醬油

Chinese

	beat; strike; break beat; strike; break; mix up; build; fight; fetch; make; tie up; issue; shoot; calculate; since; from; dozen	soy sauce
trad. (打醬油)	打	醬油
simp. (打酱油)	打	酱油
Literally: “to buy soy sauce; to fill up the soy sauce bottle in one's household”.

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打醬油

Etymology

Popular Internet meme popularised in 2008 by a man-on-the-street's response to a television reporter's question about a recent celebrity photo scandal, to which the man replied, "What's it got to do with me? I'm here to buy soy sauce."

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dǎ jiàngyóu

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ ㄧㄡˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): daa² zoeng³ jau⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dǎ jiàngyóu
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ ㄧㄡˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dǎ jiàngyóu
  - Wade–Giles: ta³ chiang⁴-yu²
  - Yale: dǎ jyàng-yóu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: daa jianqyou
  - Palladius: да цзянъю (da czjanʺju)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ joʊ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: daa² zoeng³ jau⁴
  - Yale: dá jeung yàuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: daa² dzoeng³ jau⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: da² zêng³ yeo⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /taː³⁵ t͡sœːŋ³³ jɐu̯²¹/

Verb

打⫽醬油 (verb-object)

to buy unpackaged soy sauce
(slang, humorous, sarcastic, intransitive) to be none of one's own business; to not involve one
關我屌事，我出來打醬油的。 [MSC, trad.]
关我屌事，我出来打酱油的。 [MSC, simp.]
Guān wǒ diǎoshì, wǒ chūlái dǎ jiàngyóu de. [Pinyin]
It's got fuck all to do with me. I'm here to "buy soy sauce".

Usage notes

Usually used to express one's reluctance to discuss sensitive issues, sometimes in a jocular or sarcastic fashion.

Derived terms

醬油族 / 酱油族
醬油男 / 酱油男