老鼠
lǎoshǔ/lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
The English word 'rats' is translated into Chinese as 老鼠 (lǎoshǔ).
Meaning: damn, darn (intj)
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is lǎoshǔ.
Did you know?
- The word 老 in 老鼠 literally means 'old' or 'aged', though in this compound it does not imply the rat is elderly.
- In Chinese culture, the 老鼠 is the first animal in the zodiac, symbolizing wealth and fertility rather than just being a pest.
- The character 鼠 used in the word 老鼠 is a pictograph that originally looked much more like the silhouette of a rodent's head and whiskers.
Examples in context
- 現代的貓不吃老鼠。Modern cats don't eat rats.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use 老鼠 in a sentence about modern cats.Tatoeba #6018273 by xjjAstrus, translation #243798 by shekitten
- 你如果遭受老鼠困擾，可以使用超音波來嚇跑牠們。If you have problems with rats or mice, you can scare them away with ultrasound.This sentence shows how to use 老鼠 when discussing problems caused by pests.Tatoeba #13246060 by LeviHighway, translation #1511048 by Keder
- 猫抓住了老鼠。The cat caught the rats.This sentence illustrates a simple sentence where a cat catches 老鼠.Tatoeba #332496 by fucongcong, translation #282041 by CK
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Zihan forgot her umbrella and it starts to rain.
- 梓涵 Zihan老鼠！我忘了帶傘。Lǎoshǔ! Wǒ wàngle dài sǎn.Rats! I forgot my umbrella.
- 俊杰 Junjie沒關係，你可以共用我的。Méiguānxì, nǐ kěyǐ gòngyòng wǒ de.It's okay, you can share mine.
- 梓涵 Zihan真的嗎？太感謝你了，俊杰。Zhēnde ma? Tài gǎnxiè nǐ le, Jùnjié.Really? Thank you so much, Junjie.
- 俊杰 Junjie不用客氣，快走吧。Bùyòng kèqì, kuài zǒu ba.You're welcome, let's go.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 老鼠, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
