<p>白二寡妇 in the first joke is referring to the widow of the second son in the 白 family. (we can presume 白二寡妇 was a beautiful woman. Being a widow, the loafer presumed she would be in need of some male attention... )</p>

<p>~</p>

<p>二寡妇 in '喂不饱的二寡妇' also referring to the widow of a second son (二哥)</p>

<p>二寡妇 went into prostitution doesn't mean prostitution = 二寡妇; same as Mr.A is a thief doesn't mean thief = Mr.A</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-09T08:54:38.050Z
2019-01-09T08:54:38.050Z
Tang Ho
<p>Short answer : No.</p>

<p>Longer answer : </p>

<p>In Chinese  traditional culture, one follows a hierarchy called relatives circle <code>伦理</code>. Relatives never call each other name name directly among themselves, instead, Chinese use ordinal and the person hierarchy and relatedness according 
base on one to another.</p>

<p>For example, if you have two elder uncle call Tom (1st) and Jerry (2nd), your father is the 3rd, two younger uncle call John (4th) , Nathan (5th). This is how you call them </p>

<ul>
<li>Tom 大伯 （Eldest uncle ,伯 indicate he is elder than your father)</li>
<li>Jerry  二伯 （2nd uncle)</li>
<li>John 四叔 (4th uncle)</li>
<li>Nathan 五叔  （5th uncle, 叔 younger uncle than your father)</li>
</ul>

<p>The society usually don't know each of your uncle name but they know each family  relatives circle hierarchy.  I.e. Say your family clan name is 白, this is how the society call your uncle (ordinal and clan name) and their wife</p>

<ul>
<li>Tom 白大  , wife 白大嫂  </li>
<li>Jerry  白二 , wife 白二嫂</li>
<li>John 白四 , wife 白四嫂</li>
<li>Nathan 白五 , wife 白五嫂</li>
</ul>

<p>When Jerry pass away, his wife can maintain the relatives title(嫂) or called as widow(寡妇), then 白二嫂 can be also be identify as 白二寡妇 by the society. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-09T15:01:32.227Z
+1, I fully agree to this answer.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-09T09:32:03.610Z
2019-01-10T11:15:49.507Z
2019-01-10T11:15:49.507Z
mootmoot
<p><a href="http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_48ac9b5a0100cgbj.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">There's this joke</a> that talks about a womanizer who wants to hog a woman known as: <code>白二寡妇</code>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>第四位是二流子，他说：“你们也品味台低啦。。。要是我做了皇帝，哼！我就派锦衣卫把白二寡妇家团团围住，只准我一个人进去！谁敢跟我争，就下大狱！！！”</p>
</blockquote>

<hr>

<p>I found another article on <a href="https://www.jianshu.com/p/874e1f33e0e2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jianshu</a> that is entitled:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>喂不饱的二寡妇</p>
</blockquote>

<p>which talks about:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>后来听去广东打工的人回来说，二寡妇跟大春分手后，被一个香港老板包了，再后来听说二寡妇不知怎么的跑去做了“鸡”，没脸回村见父母、儿女了。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>二寡妇 going into prostitution.</p>

<hr>

<p>Is "二寡妇" somehow synonymous with prostitution?</p>

<meaning>
Is the title "二寡妇" synonymous with prostitution?
# Is the title "二寡妇" synonymous with prostitution?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-09)

[There's this joke](http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_48ac9b5a0100cgbj.html) that talks about a womanizer who wants to hog a woman known as: `白二寡妇`:

> 第四位是二流子，他说：“你们也品味台低啦。。。要是我做了皇帝，哼！我就派锦衣卫把白二寡妇家团团围住，只准我一个人进去！谁敢跟我争，就下大狱！！！”

---

I found another article on [Jianshu](https://www.jianshu.com/p/874e1f33e0e2) that is entitled:

> 喂不饱的二寡妇

which talks about:

> 后来听去广东打工的人回来说，二寡妇跟大春分手后，被一个香港老板包了，再后来听说二寡妇不知怎么的跑去做了“鸡”，没脸回村见父母、儿女了。

二寡妇 going into prostitution.

---

Is "二寡妇" somehow synonymous with prostitution?

**Tags:** meaning


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-01-09. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Short answer : No.

Longer answer :

In Chinese traditional culture, one follows a hierarchy called relatives circle `伦理`. Relatives never call each other name name directly among themselves, instead, Chinese use ordinal and the person hierarchy and relatedness according
base on one to another.

For example, if you have two elder uncle call Tom (1st) and Jerry (2nd), your father is the 3rd, two younger uncle call John (4th) , Nathan (5th). This is how you call them

* Tom 大伯 （Eldest uncle ,伯 indicate he is elder than your father)
* Jerry 二伯 （2nd uncle)
* John 四叔 (4th uncle)
* Nathan 五叔 （5th uncle, 叔 younger uncle than your father)

The society usually don't know each of your uncle name but they know each family relatives circle hierarchy. I.e. Say your family clan name is 白, this is how the society call your uncle (ordinal and clan name) and their wife

* Tom 白大 , wife 白大嫂
* Jerry 白二 , wife 白二嫂
* John 白四 , wife 白四嫂
* Nathan 白五 , wife 白五嫂

When Jerry pass away, his wife can maintain the relatives title(嫂) or called as widow(寡妇), then 白二嫂 can be also be identify as 白二寡妇 by the society.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: +1, I fully agree to this answer.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-01-09. Score: 1

白二寡妇 in the first joke is referring to the widow of the second son in the 白 family. (we can presume 白二寡妇 was a beautiful woman. Being a widow, the loafer presumed she would be in need of some male attention... )

~

二寡妇 in '喂不饱的二寡妇' also referring to the widow of a second son (二哥)

二寡妇 went into prostitution doesn't mean prostitution = 二寡妇; same as Mr.A is a thief doesn't mean thief = Mr.A


---

