neoi5 daai6 bat1 zung1 lau4女大不中留
Jyutpingneoi5 daai6 bat1 zung1 lau4
Yalenéuih daaih bāt jūng làuh
Definition
Once a daughter grows up, she must be married off and cannot be kept in her maternal home.
colloquialfamilypeople
How it's used
This idiom carries a traditional, slightly patriarchal tone reflecting old social norms where a daughter's primary role was to marry into another family. Nowadays, it is often used in a lighthearted or resigned way by parents who realize their child is becoming independent and moving out. It is rarely used in a serious or literal sense in modern urban settings.
Examples
A daughter grown up should marry; it is time to find a good family for her.
Your daughter is all grown up now; it really is true that daughters should marry and leave home.
Related words
Common phrases
it really is true that daughters grow up and leave
Common mistake
Do not use this to describe a son, as it is strictly reserved for daughters. It is also not a neutral observation of age, but specifically implies the necessity of marriage or moving away from the parental home.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
