About
婊 (biǎo) is a highly derogatory and vulgar noun for a prostitute or an immoral woman. It is a phono-semantic compound: the radical 女 (nǚ, 'woman') marks it as female-related, while the component 表 (biǎo, 'surface' or 'to display') supplies the pronunciation. The character does not appear in classical formal texts; it emerged in colloquial and vernacular usage solely as a term of abuse, with no neutral or positive historical definitions. In modern usage, it occurs almost exclusively in the profane compound 婊子 (biǎozi), without broader semantic or literary applications.
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