Definition
伙计 has two main meanings: (1) a partner, buddy, or old friend, often used as a friendly address (like 老伙计 'old pal'); (2) a shop assistant, waiter, or servant, common in traditional or dialectal Chinese but less used in modern standard speech. The word merges social and service roles that English separates into different terms.
n
partnerbuddya friendly addressshop assistantwaiter (in traditional or dialectal contexts)
Examples
- ，！Lǎo huǒ jì, nǐ lái le!Old pal, you're here!
- 伙计。Diàn lǐ yǒu liǎng gè huǒ jì zài zhāohu kèrén.There are two assistants in the shop attending to customers.
- ，。Tā shì wǒ de lǎo huǒ jì, wǒmen yìqǐ gōngzuò shí nián le.He's my old partner; we've worked together for ten years.
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