三姑六婆

Chinese

		three	paternal aunt	six	grandmother; matron; mother-in-law
simp. and trad. (三姑六婆)		三	姑	六	婆

Etymology

Refers to the three 姑 (gū):

尼姑 (nígū, “Buddhist nun”),
道姑 (dàogū, “Taoist nun”), and
卦姑 (“female fortune teller”),

and the six 婆 (pó):

牙婆 (“female human trafficker”),
媒婆 (méipó, “female matchmaker”),
師婆／师婆 (“sorceress”),
虔婆 (“female brothel keeper”),
藥婆／药婆 (“female doctor”), and
穩婆／稳婆 (wěnpó, “female midwife”).

In ancient China, women of these occupations often swindled money from people and were not reputable.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sāngūliùpó

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢㄍㄨㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄆㄛˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ gu¹ luk⁶ po⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: sāngūliùpó
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄍㄨㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄆㄛˊ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanguliowpor
  - IPA ^(key): /sa̠n⁵⁵ ku⁵⁵ li̯oʊ̯⁵¹ pʰu̯ɔ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam¹ gu¹ luk⁶ po⁴
  - Yale: sāam gū luhk pòh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ gu¹ luk⁹ po⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ gu¹ lug⁶ po⁴
  - IPA ^(key): /sɑːm⁵⁵ kuː⁵⁵ lʊk̚² pʰɔː²¹/

Idiom

三姑六婆

women with disreputable or illegal professions
(figuratively) (female) gossipmongers

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