Laoban - Old Boss in Mandarin Chinese

Titles are important in Chinese culture, and they are used more frequently than in most Western countries. One good example of this is that titles can be used to address people, which you might be familiar with from your Mandarin class where you can call the teacher è€ Ã¥ ¸ « (lÇŽoshÄ «). While that can be done in English too, its usually reserved for younger kids and not as common as in Mandarin Chinese. è€ Ã¦  ¿/éâ€"† (lÇŽobÇŽn) - boss; shopkeeper The title for â€Å"shopkeeper† is lÇŽobÇŽn. This is used to refer to the owner or proprietor of a shop. LÇŽobÇŽn can be used when referring to or addressing the shopkeeper. LÇŽobÇŽn has two characters: è€ Ã¦  ¿/éâ€"†: The first one, lÇŽo, means â€Å"old,† and is a term of respect. It is the same character used in lÇŽoshÄ « (teacher). Even though it doesnt mean old in this context, it can be a useful memory aid to think of it like that.The second character éâ€"†, bÇŽn, means â€Å"boss,† so the literal translation of lÇŽobÇŽn â€Å"old boss.† Note that these are different in simplified and traditional Chinese (simplified: æ  ¿, traditional éâ€"†, but the simplified version is used in traditional too). The most common meaning of æ  ¿ is plank. To remember the word, create a vivid picture of a typical shopkeeper in China (whatever comes to mind when you think of the word), but picture the person with a face like an old, gnarled plank. Examples of LÇŽobÇŽn Click on the links to hear the audio. Nà ¨igà ¨ lÇŽobÇŽn yÇ’u mà  i hÄ›n hÇŽo de dÃ… ngxÄ «.é‚ £Ã¥â‚¬â€¹Ã¨â‚¬ Ã©â€"†æÅ"‰è ³ £Ã¥ ¾Ë†Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦  ±Ã¨ ¥ ¿Ã©â€š £Ã¤ ¸ ªÃ¨â‚¬ Ã¦  ¿Ã¦Å"‰å â€"Ã¥ ¾Ë†Ã¥ ¥ ½Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¤ ¸Å"è ¥ ¿That shopkeeper has very good things.LÇŽobÇŽn hÇŽo. YÇ’u mà ©iyÇ’u mà  i pà ­ngguÇ’?è€ Ã©â€"†å ¥ ½. æÅ"‰æ ²â€™Ã¦Å"‰è ³ £Ã¨Ëœâ€¹Ã¦Å¾Å"?è€ Ã¦  ¿Ã¥ ¥ ½. æÅ"‰æ ² ¡Ã¦Å"‰å â€"è‹ ¹Ã¦Å¾Å"?Hello. Do you sell apples? Edit: This article was significantly updated by Olle Linge on April 25th 2016.