URLLesson Introduction
So, you're thinking a lesson on eating tofu sounds about as bland as that spongy white square of mush on your plate? That's what you thought... Truth is, there is nothing more racy than an affinity for 'eating tofu.' Confused? Don't let someone else have the last laugh. Listen to this podcast and find out the 'spicy' side of tofu, in Mandarin Chinese.
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juno says
Правильно приготовленный 豆腐 (тофу) очень вкусная едаSeptember 23, 2007
wildyaks says
So here comes the much awaited explanation for 吃豆腐! thanks a lot. Interesting lessonSeptember 23, 2007
changye says
Some other things which are not strongly recommended to eat in China. The last one means the tomb of life. 吃醋 (cu4, vinegar)……….……..…..….…be jealous 吃苦 (ku3, bitter)……………...….….…bear hardship 吃白食 (bai2shi2, free food)…………...live off others 吃花酒 (hua1jiu3)…….....….drink with singsong girls 吃鸭蛋 (ya1dan4, a duck egg)………….get a naught 吃鸡蛋 (ji1dan4, an egg)………………...get a naught 吃喜糖 (xi3tang2, wedding candies)….....get marriedSeptember 23, 2007
xarymu says
Oh! I remember my Chinese teacher telling me about this. Wow, I can't believe I've forgotten. Thanks for the lesson.September 23, 2007
mikeinewshot says
Juno Как лучше приготовлять?September 24, 2007
henning says
To extend changye's list: 吃软饭 (ruǎnfàn, "soft food")........to live off of a woman As learned in the Intermediate Lesson: http://chinesepod.com/learnchinese/shes-easy/vocabulary Any more dangerous food stuff? (Although I would not include "吃喜糖" in that list of negatives. Opinions might vary here).September 24, 2007
bitchy says
Is Ken right about the "grope" translation? I always thought 吃豆腐 meant generally flirting ( in a rakish sort of way ) but not necessarily touching or grabbing.September 24, 2007
azerdocmom says
Very interesting. I was just wondering about this phrase. Thanks CPod. If it means "groping", it isn't as lewd or lecherous as I thought it might mean.September 24, 2007
go1040 says
Юно, Вы часто его едите? Вы производете впетчатление человека разбирающегося в этом.September 24, 2007
eshanks says
wow, ya know i hate to be this guy, but i have to admit that i was led to understand that "eating tofu" meant something else...specifically, giving oral sex to a girl. does anyone agree with me on this? maybe this is a shenzhen thing.September 24, 2007
rjberki says
yea, I kind of thought you cleaned it up a bit. I have heard the same as eshanks. But thanks for continuing to push the envelope. Its the real world I want to learn about.September 24, 2007
go1040 says
Юно, чтоб не было недопонимания - мой комментарий казался еды - я его написал до того, как прослушал сегодняшний урок - потом смущался, когда слышал его - чтоб вы меня правильно истолковали.September 24, 2007
kaixing says
Bitchy is right. "吃豆腐" does not have to involve "groping". Now it is similar to "sexual harrassment", either touching/grabbing or talking flirtishly to women.September 24, 2007
MexicoBob says
juno and MikeinEwshot, I cook my 豆腐 dòufu in a microwave. I eat it with a little rice and some eggs with a dash of soy sauce. Yum :)September 24, 2007
nelfie says
in the expansion exercises 'what are they laughing at?' is 他们在笑什么？in the dialogue, 'what are you laughing at?' 笑什么？am I right in thinking you don't need 在 in the second example because no pronoun is used?September 24, 2007
leviathan says
我每天喝豆漿 小喝豆漿 好 大喝给你这个意思放屁了 我要小杯子天 没有 谢谢September 24, 2007
juno says
To: go1040 - MikeinEwshot . Действительно, 豆腐 такая-же изначальная субстанция для кулинара, как мясо, грибы, пшено и т.д. Всё зависит от рук повара. Простейший рецепт доступный любому, это обжарить небольшие кубики 豆腐 в масле, с добавлением специй и кисло-сладкого соуса. А уж что творят с ним китайцы- вообще тема отдельная. Что касается урока, то он сделан как и все остальные на противоположностях восприятия предмета. Т.е. нормально :-)September 24, 2007
bazza says
Breakdown of 豆腐 (which may not be correct) 豆 (flask radical) 一+口+八+一 腐 广+付+肉September 24, 2007
user1776 says
i though of eating tofu lol never hard of this expression of grouping :)September 24, 2007
greggygate says
Bazza, Wenlin says 豆 is from "a picture of a sacrificial vessel, or dish for food. Borrowed for 'bean,'" 腐 is 府 (政府的府) over 肉 （"meat"). Which, when combined as 腐, means "rotten." Think: "when the government is running the grocery store, the food is sure to go rotten." in the end, tofu is just stinky rotten beans that taste delicious when cooked properly.September 24, 2007
greggygate says
p.s.: "Rotten" is Wenlin's definition of 豆腐的腐。September 24, 2007
man2toe says
Can 吃豆腐 mean groping not only in terms of physically groping but also in using one's eyes to check out another's physical characteristics?September 24, 2007
peterberlin1980 says
我住在广州，这里我觉得‘吃豆腐’有lesbian的意思，还有人也认为 “吃豆腐“ 可以有这个意思吗？September 25, 2007
amber says
hi peterberlin1980, The expression 吃豆腐 (chī dòufu) refers to groping, it doesn't have any homosexual or lesbian connotations. Man2Toe, 吃豆腐 (chī dòufu) definitely refers to physically groping. There is an expression you could use for 'undressing someone with one's eyes' 色眯眯地看着她 Sè mī mī de kànzhe tāSeptember 25, 2007
amber says
Hi Nelfie, Chinese is a lot more flexible. The 在 (zài) in the first sentence: 他们在笑什么? Tāmen zài xiào shénme? What are they laughing at? Is the 在 (zài) that denotes that an action is happening now. The second sentence basically has the same meaning, but it's the context that tells us the complete meaning. So, in Chinese, much is inferred from context. 笑什么? Xiào shénme? What are (you) laughing at?September 25, 2007
lichade says
A friend from Beijing told me that it refers to a man that likes to touch women. This has a slightly different meaning than to grope, however, she did not speak fluent English.September 25, 2007
wildyaks says
lichade, that's a good way for a non-native speaker to describe "groping" if he/she doesn't know the termSeptember 25, 2007
kencarroll says
Take my word for it, 吃豆腐 means, 'to grope' and in the lewdest manner. How do I know? My wife told me. Really!September 25, 2007
man2toe says
Thank you for the clarification Amber and Ken.September 25, 2007
azerdocmom says
And, the wife is always right!September 25, 2007
sebire says
This phrase never came up when I used to learn chinese as a kid! It would have made lessons far more interesting...September 25, 2007
nasywang says
吃豆腐 还有指占别人便宜的意思，一般指异性。September 25, 2007
eyux says
A friend from western China confirms what eshanks says - "chi doufu" means oral sex!September 26, 2007
eyux says
I've just remembered she lived in Shenzhen for several years, so maybe it is a Shenzhen expression.September 26, 2007
RonInDC says
I first listened to the dialog-only version and I'm thinking 'What the heck?'. It's good to know these things!September 26, 2007
bazza says
Shame there isn't a Chinese urban dictionary.September 26, 2007
LadyLuck says
This actually came up in a conversation with my boyfriend and his mom when we were ordering lunch one day... they both laughed when I said that I liked to eat tofu... lol They're from Taiwan and they explained that it meant to grope women.September 27, 2007
brightoutlook says
Eye-opening page here on wikipedia (shield your children's eyes): http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mandarin_slang&diff=150217907&oldid=150213272 Notice that due to disagreement about the meaning of 吃豆腐, it was removed from the page. You can see the ancient pictographic version of 豆 here: http://chinese-characters.org/meaning/8/8C46.htmlSeptember 28, 2007
ohdannyboy says
According to my girlfriend, who is from Ningbo and has been living in Shanghai for five years, 吃豆腐 has nothing to do with oral sex (which is contrary to how I had understood the term) and can involve either physical or verbal sexual harassment.September 29, 2007
changye says
Eating tofu seems not to be an easy job in China.September 29, 2007
eyux says
I suppose the regional variations in Chinese slang are as treacherous the English variations. In Britain "fag" means cigarette, but not in the US! In the US "fanny" means buttocks (I think), but not in the UK! Working in the Personal Pensions training dept. of a large London insurance co., I once answered the phone in our standard way, "Hello, PP Training". The caller was helpless with laughter. She was an American, overcome by the dicovery that British financial institutions need "potty training" departments.September 29, 2007
peterberlin1980 says
i got my impression of 'chi do fu' having a lesbian conotation from some gentle teasing some of my former students gave a female colleauge when we all had dinner together, but they were asking her if she ate 'do fu gan'豆腐干, a barbequed slice of dry dofu, this may have a different conotation.. or i may totally have misinterpreted, anyway, i didn't know it meant groping, so another handy lesson, cheers!September 29, 2007
babliku says
I always thought doufu refers to a woman's butt or um, chest. So chi doufu would refer specifically to sexual harrassment based on groping those areas. But I suppose it's a slightly vague term.September 29, 2007
gpknopp says
Русские сочинители, пожалуйста пишут просто, потому что мой русский как плохо как мой китаец.October 3, 2007
MexicoBob says
gpknopp, If as you say, your Russian is as bad as your Chinese, and you want people to write in simplified Russian, why don't you just say it in English so that everybody can understand it. I don't think there are any secrets here :)October 3, 2007
charlie8chan says
Chinese is already pretty complicated. . .at least for me, therefore why add Russian/Cirillic to the comments ? Remember the acronim: KISS !October 4, 2007
maxiewawa says
We get enough nasty comments here about simplified/complex Chinese, let's not get Simplified/Complex Russian involved in it!October 5, 2007
gengen says
To Juno Не знаю. Не пробовал.October 6, 2007
gaojian says
babliku: 吃豆腐 can have a few meanings but I have never heard it used to refer to the butt or chest. Butt in chinese is 屁股 (pi4gu) and chest is 乳房 (ru3fang2). 高健 JakeOctober 8, 2007
go1040 says
Спасибки! :-) Очевидно и для "РусскогоПода" есть место...October 14, 2007
yueqindong says
This is a very interesting programme, relaxing, nice.October 16, 2007
mastersenshi says
I like it that the creators actually talk to the students. More programs should have this feature. Now I know another point of Chinese culture! :)October 16, 2007
bast says
Could I say: 什么的意思"吃豆腐" For "which meaning of eat tofu" in reply to the question "Do you eat tofu?" ? Also is: Chi(1) ruan(3) bu(4) chi(1) ying(4) a known expression for "to be open to persuasion not to coercion"? thanks, Bar.October 17, 2007
Kyle says
For "which meaning of eat tofu" are you trying to say "What's tofu mean?" You can translate this as: "吃豆腐"是什么意思? And, yes, you are correct about the meaning of 吃软不吃硬.October 17, 2007
bast says
thanks Kyle, In "which meaning of eat tofu?" I was trying to suggest that I knew that there are two meanings, the literal meaning and the 'metaphorical' meaning. Bar.October 17, 2007
Kyle says
Ah, then you could say: 你想说什么"吃豆腐"的意思? Sorry about the confusion.October 17, 2007
user8472 says
One instance. 别想吃我豆腐。 Don't think of eating my toufu. Or, don't think of eating toufu from me. It could be a warning women give to men. Or it could be a joke between couples.October 30, 2007
rusotexano says
It seems that every language and every culture has their secret innuendos and double meanings. For example, Spanish seems to be rife with double meanings or "doble sentidos." A lot of them have sexual connotations and many of them seem to have something to do with food. For instance in Mexico you can't say you want a bigger chile pepper, say you'd like a hot sandwich, or ask the waiter if there are eggs without potentially falling into a hidden joke. Just goes to show that some humor is universal.December 20, 2007
sfrrr says
June 19, 2008
I hate to sound like a bitch here, but what is Russian doing in a Chinese lesson? Is there a translation for the comments in cyrillic?
pulosm says
June 19, 2008
You don't sound like a "bitch," but you do sound a bit close-minded. Might we not ask what English is doing in a Chinese lesson???
My Russian is not that good, but it looks like this is the convo:
Juno: Properly cooked tofu is very tasty.
Mikeinnewshot: What is the best way to prepare it?
go1040: Juno, do you eat it often? (and some other stuff I don't understand)
Juno: [offers advice on how to cook tofu]
gpknopp: Russian writers, please write simply, because my Russian is as bad as my Chinese.
go1040: Sure. Obviously there is a need for a RussianPod.
[I am NOT certifying this as accurate or complete]
user6836 says
July 15, 2008
I live in Chengdu and have heard, from quite reliable sources, that "eating tofu" does allude to a man giving oral sex to a woman. It's pretty easy to see the connection, if you've any experience with this sort of thing, tofu or otherwise. It's also probably true that the hidden meaning has a lot regional variation.
almajors says
September 16, 2008
I see the old lessons are now being recycled/reused along with all the comments.
hai_lam181 says
September 16, 2008
I want to learn more lessons because I want to improve my chinese