How to Write 佬 (lǎo) — Meaning “Fellow / Guy”

Picture an "old" (老) man who is a "fellow" (佬) standing next to a person (亻). You can think: "The old person is just a regular guy." The right side 老 also looks like a man with a walking stick, helping you remember it.

Notice 佬 has 8 strokes: first write the left radical 亻(2 strokes), then the right part 老 (6 strokes). A common mistake is making the right side too wide or forgetting the dot on top of 老 (the little horizontal stroke is not a dot; it is a short horizontal line). Keep the left and right balanced, with 亻narrow and 老 slightly wider.

仰 (yǎng) means "to look up" and uses the same left radical but has a different right part (卬), while 仲 (zhòng) means "middle" or "second brother" with the right part 中. In contrast, 佬 (lǎo) specifically means "fellow" or "guy" and is often used in informal or slang terms. Visually, 佬 has the unmistakable 老 on the right, which neither 仰 nor 仲 have.

佬 is a colloquial term for a man, often used in informal speech or slang, like 阔佬 (rich guy) or 傻佬 (silly guy, common in Cantonese). It can sound rude if used directly to address someone, so use it in casual contexts or fixed phrases. The slang 鬼佬 for "foreigner" is common in Cantonese but may be considered derogatory, so be careful with tone.

Common words containing 佬 include: 阔佬 (kuò lǎo) — rich man; tycoon; 傻佬 (shǎ lǎo) — fool; silly guy (Cantonese); 鬼佬 (guǐ lǎo) — Foreigner (slang).