sau3 san1瘦身
Jyutpingsau3 san1
Yalesau sān
Definition
To slim down or lose weight, or to downsize a company's operations.
- to lose weight; to slim down by reducing body fat
- figurativeto downsize or lay off staff to streamline a business
colloquialhealthbody
How it's used
瘦身 carries a more positive, aesthetic connotation compared to 減肥, which often implies a medical or health-driven necessity. It is frequently used in marketing and lifestyle contexts to suggest achieving a toned or fit physique rather than just dropping pounds. Beyond personal health, the term is also used metaphorically in business to describe corporate downsizing or streamlining operations.
Examples
She has been working really hard to slim down lately.
Are you planning on losing weight?
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using 瘦身 to describe someone who is already naturally thin or frail, as it specifically implies the active process of trying to reduce body fat. If someone is already very skinny, using this term might sound ironic or confusing.
Grammar color guide
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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).
