偷油婆

Chinese

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

Noun

偷油婆

1. (chiefly Southwestern Mandarin, Xiang) 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.

     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.

     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.

     When the fridge was opened, in crawled a cockroach, which was especially fat and cunning.

Synonyms