老子

老子

1. Laozi (604–531 BCE), a Chinese philosopher, and founder of Taoism
2. Laozi (also called Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi)

老子

1. (colloquial, male) I; me

   老子才不怕老闆呢。 [MSC, trad.]
   老子才不怕老板呢。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lǎozi cái bù pà lǎobǎn ne. [Pinyin]

   I'm not afraid of the boss.

When 老子 (lǎozi) is used this way, it often gives off an arrogant, angry, childish or humorous tone.

老子

1. old man
2. (slang) father; old man
3. (dated or regional) son; young man (i.e. a mother scolding her son)

   • 最奇怪的是昨天街上的那個女人，打他兒子，嘴裏說道：「老子呀！我要咬你幾口纔出氣！」他眼睛卻看着我。 [MSC, trad.]
     最奇怪的是昨天街上的那个女人，打他儿子，嘴里说道：“老子呀！我要咬你几口才出气！”他眼睛却看着我。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1918, Lu Xun, A Madman's Diary

     Zuì qíguài de shì zuótiān jiē shàng de nàge nǚrén, dǎ tā érzǐ, zuǐ lǐ shuōdào: “Lǎozi ya! Wǒ yào yǎo nǐ jǐ kǒu shān chūqì!” Tā yǎnjīng què kàn zhe wǒ. [Pinyin]

     The strangest was a woman on the street yesterday. She was hitting her son. From her mouth, I heard her say, "Young man! I'd like to take a few bites out of you just to vent my anger!" Yet, her eyes were fixed on me.

Compound of 老い (oi, “stem of verb oiru, to become old”) +‎ 子 (ko, “child”). The ko changes to go due to rendaku (連濁).

• Kun'yomi
• IPA^(key): [o̞iɡo̞], [o̞iŋo̞]

老子 (hiragana おいご, rōmaji oigo)

1. a child of older parents

• 年寄り子 (としよりこ, toshiyoriko)

From Middle Chinese.

• On'yomi
• IPA^(key): [ro̞ːɕi]

老子 (hiragana ろうし, rōmaji Rōshi, historical hiragana らうし)

1. Laozi, a philosopher of ancient China
2. the Tao Te Ching, a book of philosophy supposedly written by Laozi

• 老子 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Laozi on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 老子道徳経 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Tao Te Ching on Wikipedia.Wikipedia