I’ve got a vocabulary challenge for you. How many words for “rich” (as in “wealthy”) can you think of in English off the top of your head?
Now, how many can you think of in Mandarin?
I’ve collected ten of each that I will share with you now.
10 Words for “Rich” (“Wealthy”) in English:
1. rich
2. wealthy
3. affluent
4. well-off
5. well-to-do
6. made of money (informal)
7. rolling in it (informal)
8. filthy rich (informal)
9. loaded (informal)
10. in the money (informal)
10 Words for “Rich” (“Wealthy”) in Mandarin:
1. 富有 fùyǒu
2. 富裕 fùyù
3. 有钱 yǒuqián
4. 阔 kuò (informal)
5. 趁钱 chènqián (informal)
6. 万贯 wànguàn, as in 腰缠万贯 yāochánwànguàn (“wealthy”) and 万贯家财 wànguàn jiācái (“great wealth”)
7. 优裕 yōuyù
8. 宽裕 kuānyù
9. 腰里横 yāolǐhèng (Northern Mandarin slang)
10. 流油 liúyóu, as in 富得流油 fù de liúyóu (“have great riches”) (Northern Mandarin slang)
Any more you can think of? Comments welcome.
One chengyu that i can think of is “富可敌国”, which basically means that you are “super rich” or something like that. It’s a bit old-fashioned though.
Cheers!
很有米 (slang).
暴發戶 (referring to the nouveau riche)
That’s a good word. I often translate it as “cashed-up bogans” when in the pejorative. In the blog post I didn’t actually mention nouns referring to rich people because there are so many (大款、富翁、富二代、etc).
Words for “Rich” (“Wealthy”) in Mandarin:
殷实 —- yin shi (formal)
条件不错 —- (inforaml)
富足
富贵
富甲天下/ 富甲一方