Do these words just mean "tease", or something more serious?

[Token_287]

As far as I know, this phrase varies in meaning depending on where it's used. In the North, people I've asked think of it as a physical way of "macking on someone." But while I was living in Nanjing (which I consider to be Southern, even if it is the "Southernmost Northern City"), I made a joke with this word thinking it was just flirting, but was told that it meant something more like "eating out" (lovely descriptive imagery, of course). I tried to confirm this with various Chinese people I knew, and got similarly varied answers. Like when you use the phrase "hook up" in English, it might be a good idea to specify how you're using the phrase.

[Shi Tong]

Token_287

Interesting, since my wife would confirm this would definately be to touch someone inappropriately.

And Taiwan is obviously in the south.:lol:

[chrix]

Have a look at post 4, for an example from Taiwan, where it does not seem to mean "inappropriate touching". It just seems that this word is ambiguous and great care should be exercised in using it...

[phyrex]

My girlfriend, who is from Northern China, taught me that 吃谁的豆腐 definitely means inappropriately touching the "soft parts" (like 豆腐 ) of a woman. It's definitely not 'teasing', but a serious thing.

[tooironic]

I think it's obvious that 吃豆腐 has the potential to express both meanings of to tease/flirt and to engage in sexual harrassment. Wenlin lists both of them, and everyone here seems to agree it's either one or the other, or both.