Use of "老公"

[DernierVirage]

Hello to you all, I'd welcome any thoughts of the following question.

 

Is "老公" used only to mean husband, or can it be used more generally. The situation is a married Chinese lady who is referring to another man (not her husband) as 老公. Is she just kidding with him, or can it be used in a relaxed way between friends? 

 

Thanks for your ideas.

[Demonic_Duck]

老公/老婆 are sometimes used informally to mean boyfriend/girlfriend. I think a married person referring to someone who isn't their spouse like that might raise a few eyebrows, though.

[DernierVirage]

Thanks for your quick reply. It seems clear that it is not what you'd normally expect a married person to be saying !

[abcdefg]

Quote

The situation is a married Chinese lady who is referring to another man (not her husband) as 老公.

 

Yep, it would be very strange, absent something illicit going on out of the public view. I think it would cause raised eyebrows. Maybe a stand-up comic, deliberately trying to be funny by shocking the audience could use it like that.

[DernierVirage]

@abcdefg: thanks very much !

[EnergyReaper]

In fandom culture, the fans use 老公 for the idols who they chase very often. They may call the male or female idols 老公

[DernierVirage]

Interesting, I didn't know that, thanks. I guess it still would not be an expression to use to someone you know.....

[honglam]

It's really hard to name all the words Chinese use to address their spouse, huh. And the usage of these words are difficult as well. 老公 can be one's husband or just boyfriend, but if you hear someone says 丈夫, and that usually means that there is a legitimated marriage. Some may use 我爱人(my beloved) or 我家那位(the one of my family) but they seem to be a bit old-fashioned. At least the majority of those I 've seen using these two expressions are the elderly.

Meanwhile it's okay to say 老公/老婆 when you want to call for your spouse/bf/gf...'s attention(like "Honey" or "Darling" in English). But 丈夫/妻子, usually they are only used while elaborating them to others. I would call my husband 老公 at home but when introducing him to my friends i'd rather say 这是我丈夫。

[death]

Uh.. actually, in china, someone usually uses '老公' to refer to her husband when she's married him. And it only can be used in informal situation. For instance. In general, you can only use it to refer to your husband in your own home.