老外
lǎo wài
Pinyin

Definition

老外
 - 
lǎo wài
  1. (coll.) foreigner (esp. non Asian person)
  2. layman
  3. amateur

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

外
wài
  1. 1 outside
  2. 2 in addition
  3. 3 foreign
  4. 4 external
外套
wài tào
  1. 1 coat
  2. 2 jacket
  3. 3 classifier: 件 jiàn
外婆
wài pó
  1. 1 (coll.) mother's mother
  2. 2 maternal grandmother
外面
wài miàn
  1. 1 outside (also pr. [wài mian] for this sense)
  2. 2 surface
  3. 3 exterior
  4. 4 external appearance
老
lǎo
  1. 1 prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity
  2. 2 old (of people)
  3. 3 venerable (person)
  4. 4 experienced
  5. 5 of long standing
  6. 6 always
  7. 7 all the time
  8. 8 of the past
  9. 9 very
  10. 10 outdated
  11. 11 (of meat etc) tough

Idioms (20)

一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥
yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤
yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
不听老人言，吃亏在眼前
bù tīng lǎo rén yán , chī kuī zài yǎn qián
  1. 1 (idiom) ignore your elders at your peril
不足为外人道
bù zú wéi wài rén dào
  1. 1 no use to tell others
  2. 2 let's keep this between ourselves (idiom)

Sample Sentences

即使你要当三餐老是在外的”老外”，也要当个营养均衡的老外。
jíshǐ nǐ yào dāng sān cān lǎoshi zàiwài de ”lǎowài ”，yě yào dāng gè yíngyǎng jūnhéng de lǎowài 。
Even if you want to eat all three meals a day out and be a restaurant hopper, you have to make sure you're a restaurant hopper with a good nutritional balance.
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说到闲散，你手边这本是【老子】吧？听说，现在老子思想很受老外欢迎，反倒是国内，一般人对老子的微言大义望之却步，认识不深。
shuō dào xiánsǎn ，nǐ shǒubiān zhè běn shì 【lǎozǐ 】ba ？tīngshuō ，xiànzài lǎozǐ sīxiǎng hěn shòu lǎowài huānyíng ，fǎndào shì guónèi ，yìbānrén duì lǎozi de wēiyán dàyì wàng zhī quèbù ，rènshi bù shēn 。
Talking of leisure, that book you've got there is Laozi, yes? I heard that Laozi's thinking is very popular among foreigners nowadays. It's actually now in China that normal people can't get to grips with Laozi's wisdom, due to their unfamiliarity with it.
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她的英语很棒，都快赶上老外了。
tā de yīngyǔ hěn bàng ，dōu kuài gǎnshàng lǎowài le 。
Her English is great. It's almost as good as (caught up with) a foreigner.
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那当然！这些老外一般都对中国语言和文化有浓厚的兴趣。他们想真正体验中国人的日常生活，了解中国。最主要的是有语言环境，可以快速提高中文水平。提供寄宿的中国家庭不仅可以赚点儿费用，还可以顺便练习英文。何乐而不为呢？
nà dāngrán ！zhèxiē lǎowài yībān dōu duì Zhōngguó yǔyán hé wénhuà yǒu nónghòu de xìngqù 。tāmen xiǎng zhēnzhèng tǐyàn Zhōngguórén de rìcháng shēnghuó ，liǎojiě Zhōngguó 。zuì zhǔyào de shì yǒu yǔyán huánjìng ，kěyǐ kuàisù tígāo Zhōngwén shuǐpíng 。tígōng jìsù de Zhōngguó jiātíng bùjǐn kěyǐ zhuàn diǎnr fèiyòng ，hái kěyǐ shùnbiàn liànxí Yīngwén 。hélèérbùwéi ne ？
Of course! These foreigners usually have a deep interest in Chinese language and culture. They want to really experience Chinese people's everyday life and understand China. The most important thing is to have a language environment where they can quickly improve their level of Chinese. Chinese families providing lodging not only can make a bit of money, they can also easily practice a bit of English. So why not do it?
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哦？我以前只听说过中国人到国外去找外国寄宿家庭。没想到也有老外想住在中国人家里啊。
ó ？wǒ yǐqián zhī tīngshuō guo Zhōngguórén dào guówài qù zhǎo wàiguó jìsù jiātíng 。méixiǎngdào yě yǒu lǎowài xiǎng zhùzài Zhōngguórén jiālǐ ā 。
Huh? I only ever heard about Chinese people going abroad looking for a host family. I had no idea that foreigners also wanted to live in Chinese people's homes!
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嗯！有道理！唉……我们啥时也能有自己的房子啊！有了房子，我也要做东道主家庭。到时我就天天带老外去菜场买菜，嘿嘿！
ng4 ！yǒu dàolǐ ！ài ……wǒmen sháshí yě néng yǒu zìjǐ de fángzi ā ！yǒu le fángzi ，wǒ yě yào zuò dōngdàozhǔ jiātíng 。dàoshí wǒ jiù tiāntiān dài lǎowài qù càichǎng mǎi cài ，hēihēi ！
Yeah! That makes sense! Hey, when are we going to be able to have our own apartment? If we had our own apartment, I could also be a host. Then I could take a foreigner to the vegetable market to buy veggies every day. Haha!
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是啊。还有个老外呢！
shì a 。háiyǒu gè lǎowài ne ！
Yeah. There's a foreigner!
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中国人觉得叫"老外"还是比较亲切的。好像是我的老朋友。
Zhōngguórén juéde jiào "lǎowài "háishì bǐjiào qīnqiè de 。hǎoxiàng shì wǒ de lǎo péngyou 。
Chinese people feel that “lǎowài” is an affectionate expression. It's like this person's my old friend.
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老外
lǎowài
foreigner
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原来是要减肥啊。水果代餐粉，那我还不如直接吃几个水果。这又是国外研发出来的。我看老外最喜欢吃什么维生素药片之类的。
yuánlái shì yào jiǎnféi a 。shuǐguǒdàicānfěn ，nà wǒ hái bùrú zhíjiē chī jǐ ge shuǐguǒ 。zhè yòu shì guówài yánfā chūlái de 。wǒ kàn lǎowài zuì xǐhuan chī shénme wéishēngsù yàopiàn zhīlèi de 。
Oh, so it's for dieting. Fruit meal replacement powder, that can't compare to just eating some fruit. This stuff was developed abroad. I think foreigners really like to take vitamin tablets and things like that.
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