ChinesePod

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 old (of people)
3 venerable (person)
4 experienced
5 of long standing
6 always
7 all the time
8 of the past
9 very
10 outdated
11 (of meat etc) tough

老公

lǎo gōng

1 (coll.) husband

老婆

lǎo pó

1 (coll.) wife

老妈

lǎo mā

1 mother
2 mom

Idioms (20)

一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥

yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu

1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
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 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

上有老下有小

shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo

1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
3 sandwich generation

不听老人言，吃亏在眼前

bù tīng lǎo rén yán , chī kuī zài yǎn qián

1 (idiom) ignore your elders at your peril

光天化日

guāng tiān huà rì

1 the full light of day (idiom)
2 fig. peace and prosperity
3 in broad daylight

Sample Sentences

随着我国老龄化问题的日益严峻，养老产业也在迅速发展。

suízhe wǒguó lǎolínghuà wèntí de rìyì yánjùn ，yǎnglǎo chǎnyè yě zài xùnsù fāzhǎn 。

As China's aging problem becomes more and more serious, the old-age services industry is also developing rapidly.

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确实啊，朝阳产业也是我们未来建筑设计的方向啊，我们已经步入老龄化社会了，但很多公共养老设施细节简直不堪入目。

quèshí ā ，zhāoyángchǎnyè yě shì wǒmen wèilái jiànzhù shèjì de fāngxiàng ā ，wǒmen yǐjīng bùrù lǎolínghuà shèhuì le ，dàn hěn duō gōnggòng yǎng lǎo shèshī xìjié jiǎnzhí bùkānrùmù 。

Indeed, architectural design does seem to be moving towards sunrise industries. We've already become an aging society. However, when you get down to the nuts and bolts of facilities in publicly-run senior care homes, many of them are in an awful state.

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现在中国社会老龄化越来越严重，放开“单独二胎”也是为了缓解人口老龄化带来的危机。

xiànzài Zhōngguó shèhuì lǎolínghuà yuèláiyuè yánzhòng ，fàngkāi “dāndúèrtāi ”yě shì wèile huǎnjiě rénkǒu lǎolínghuà dàilái de wēijī 。

Nowadays the aging of Chinese society is becoming more and more serious. Allowing the “two children for only children” program is for the sake of slowing the crisis that population aging brings.

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咳，你误会我了。我不是在歧视老年人，可是人口的老龄化也的确会在一定程度上影响社会的发展。如果我们忽略这个问题的话，说不定真的会造成严重的后果。

hāi ，nǐ wùhuì wǒ le 。wǒ bù shì zài qíshì lǎoniánrén ，kěshì rénkǒu de lǎolínghuà yě díquè huì zài yīdìng chéngdùshàng yǐngxiǎng shèhuì de fāzhǎn 。rúguǒ wǒmen hūlüè zhège wèntí dehuà ，shuōbudìng zhēnde huì zàochéng yánzhòng de hòuguǒ 。

Agh, you misunderstood me. I'm not looking down on old people. But the aging of the population definitely has a certain effect on social development. If we neglect this problem, it may really lead to some serious consequences.

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上午我在报纸上看到一篇联合国人口司发表的最新研究报告，说现在世界人口已经逐步趋向老龄化。你说如果几十年后世界上大多数都是老人，该是件多么可怕的事情？

shàngwǔ wǒ zài bàozhǐ shàng kàndào yī piān liánhéguó rénkǒusī fābiǎo de zuìxīn yánjiū bàogào ，shuō xiànzài shìjiè rénkǒu yǐjīng zhúbù qūxiàng lǎolínghuà 。nǐ shuō rúguǒ jǐ shí nián hòu shìjiè shàng dàduōshù dōu shì lǎorén ，gāi shì jiàn duōme kěpà de shìqing ？

This morning I saw a report in the newspaper about the latest research publication by the UN Population Division. It said that the world's population is getting gradually older. Tell me, how scary would it be if after a few more decades, most of the Earth's population were old people?

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你的想法太主观了。我不是说应该抛弃老人，我担心的是“心有余而力不足”。如果我们不重视人口老龄化的现象，当老人越来越多，能够承担社会大部分责任的年轻人却越来越少，社会供养矛盾越来越突出，是不利于整个社会的发展的。

nǐ de xiǎngfǎ tài zhǔguān le 。wǒ bù shì shuō yīnggāi pāoqì lǎorén ，wǒ dānxīn de shì “xīnyǒuyúérlìbùzú ”。rúguǒ wǒmen bùzhòngshì rénkǒu lǎolínghuà de xiànxiàng ，dàng lǎorén yuèláiyuèduō ，nénggòu chéngdān shèhuì dàbù fēn zérèn de niánqīngrén què yuèláiyuèshǎo ，shèhuì gōngyǎng máodùn yuèláiyuè tūchū ，shì bùlì yú zhěnggè shèhuì de fāzhǎn de 。

Your opinion is too subjective. I'm not saying we should toss the old people out. What I'm worried about is a situation where ''the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." If we don't take the aging of the population seriously, when there are more and more old people, and as the number of young people who can assume most of the responsibility for society is getting increasingly smaller, conflicts about parental support will become even more pronounced. It's not good for the development of the entire society.

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看来人口老龄化的问题也是不容忽视的，中国为了控制人口增长的“独生子女政策”在若干年后也要相应地做做调整了。

kànlai rénkǒu lǎolínghuà de wèntí yě shì bùrónghūshì de ，Zhōngguó wèile kòngzhì rénkǒu zēngzhǎng de “dúshēngzǐnǚ zhèngcè ”zài ruògān nián hòu yě yào xiāngyīng de zuòzuo tiáozhěng le 。

It looks like the problem of an aging population can't be ignored. China's one-child policy, intended to control population growth, will need to be adjusted somewhat in the coming years.

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