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”.

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): dǎjiàngyóu

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

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: dǎjiàngyóu
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄤˋ ㄧㄡˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: daajianqyou
  - IPA ^(key): /tä²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ i̯oʊ̯³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: daa² zoeng³ jau⁴
  - Yale: dá jeung yàuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: daa² dzoeng³ jau⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: da² zêng³ yeo⁴
  - IPA ^(key): /täː³⁵ t͡ʃœ̽ːŋ³³ jɐu̯²¹/

Verb

打醬油

(slang, humorous, sarcastic) 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

打醬油