痰盂

tányú
noun #33,671

Measure Word

Meanings

  1. 1 spittoon
  2. 2 cuspidor

Examples

Lǎo zhàopiàn lǐ qiángjiǎo fàngzhe yī gè tányú.
In the old photo there's a spittoon in the corner.
Xiànzài hěn shǎo yǒurén jiālǐ hái bǎi tányú le.
Few households still keep a spittoon these days.

Tips

culture
Standard household item in mid-20th century China — enamel or porcelain bowl kept by the bed or in the corner. Largely vanished after the 1990s anti-spitting hygiene campaigns, though the word survives in literature and old films. In 2020 a New York gallery embarrassingly priced an enamel 痰盂 as a 'fruit bowl' for $675, which became viral mockery in Chinese social media.
memory
(phlegm) + (basin/jar). The character is the same one in 漱口 'rinse-mouth basin' — alone is a wide-mouthed shallow vessel.

Stroke Order

tán