大腕

Chinese

		big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor	wrist
trad. (大腕)		大	腕
simp. #(大腕)		大	腕
Literally: “big wrist”.

Etymology

Originally 大蔓兒／大蔓儿 (“a plant stem”), a figure of speech used the to represent a powerful or popular person, used primarily in Chinese opera. It then started being used in film and television circles, gradually entering public speech as 大腕, developing alongside with the expression 鐵腕／铁腕 (tiěwàn, “iron fist”) as used in politics.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàwàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄨㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ wun²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tāi-oán

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàwàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄨㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàwàn
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-wan⁴
    • Yale: dà-wàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahwann
    • Palladius: давань (davanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ wän⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (大腕兒／大腕儿)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàwànr
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄨㄢˋㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàwànr
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-wan⁴-ʼrh
    • Yale: dà-wànr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahwall
    • Palladius: даваньр (davanʹr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ wɑɻ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ wun²
    • Yale: daaih wún
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ wun²
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ wun²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² wuːn³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tāi-oán
    • Tâi-lô: tāi-uán
    • Phofsit Daibuun: daixoarn
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tai⁴¹⁻²² uan⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tai²²⁻²¹ uan⁵³/

Noun

大腕

1. (slang) big name; big shot; one who is powerful and famous (especially in entertainment, artistic or academic circles)

   這個著名的電影明星是個大腕，他每次公開露面，狗仔隊都試圖拍攝他。 [MSC, trad.]
   这个著名的电影明星是个大腕，他每次公开露面，狗仔队都试图拍摄他。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhège zhùmíng de diànyǐng míngxīng shì ge dàwàn, tā měicì gōngkāi lùmiàn, gǒuzǐduì dōu shìtú pāishè tā. [Pinyin]

   This famous movie star is a big shot - every time he goes out in public, the paparazzi tries to take photos of him.

Synonyms

• 腕兒／腕儿

See also

• 名人 (míngrén)
• 萬人迷／万人迷 (wànrénmí)
• 偶像 (ǒuxiàng)
• 明星 (míngxīng)
• 大牌明星