si1 naai1師奶师奶
Jyutpingsi1 naai1
Yalesī nāai
Definition
A middle-aged married woman, often used slightly derogatorily to imply she is ignorant or penny-pinching.
colloquialpeoplemoney
How it's used
Originally a respectful term for a master's wife, the word has evolved into a label for a housewife perceived as narrow-minded or obsessed with small discounts. It is frequently used as an adjective to describe someone behaving in a petty or overly frugal manner. While some women use it self-deprecatingly, using it to describe others can be offensive and imply they lack sophistication.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
That middle-aged woman is queuing up at the supermarket to grab discounted goods.
Don't be such a penny-pincher, you don't need to compare prices for everything you buy.
Related words
Common mistake
Avoid using this term to address a woman directly unless you are very close or intentionally trying to be rude. It is almost always used as a third-person descriptor to categorize someone's behavior or social status.
Grammar color guide
Noun
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Adjective
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
