<p>The phrase, in direct translation, means single guy &amp; single lady. More often than not, it is being used to implying that when a single guy &amp; single lady spending time together alone, bad things/gossips might just happened.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-29T22:52:10.213Z
2011-12-29T22:52:10.213Z
Frankie
<p>It describes a man and a woman being together (usually in some manner of seclusion). Depending on the marital status of the man and the woman, it can be seen either as a good/normal (a couple dating) or bad thing (a brewing affair). There is no inherent negative connotation unless it is used in certain context.</p>

<p>Google is just confused. It has problems with 寡女 (somehow it was "trained" into translating that into pinyin equivalents <code>guanv1</code>) but not with 孤男,寡,女.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-30T16:36:07.883Z
Actually I think I know what happened. It's because of a [movie](http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A4%E7%94%B7%E5%AF%A1%E5%A5%B3_(%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%29) title "孤男寡女", which was translated to Needing (You) in English.
Orion
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-30T03:09:16.463Z
2011-12-30T03:09:16.463Z
prusswan
<p>A literal translation is "lonely man,lonely woman." To translate it as "needy" is a bit of a stretch, but that's basically what a lonely man and woman (together) are.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-02-05T13:48:55.643Z
2013-02-05T13:48:55.643Z
Tom Au
<p>Frankie's answer is good, but I want to make a clarification on 孤 and 寡. Both of them mean &quot;only one&quot; here, and I don't think &quot;single&quot; is good in this situation since it could mean &quot;unmarried&quot;.</p>
<p>example:</p>
<p>you and a female friend of yours are taking in a  club, in a room with the door closed,(of course, I don't recommend this :-)  ), unfortunately, your wife finds you here, so she would high suspect that you have affairs with your friend.You try to explain, but she retorts,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你们孤男寡女，共处(chŭ, to stay in )一室，你还有什么好说的？</p>
<p>one man, one woman, and one room, how could you explain?(I won't believe!)</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-30T01:00:20.083Z
2011-12-30T02:32:28.390Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Huang
<p>What does the expression "孤男寡女" (gū nán guǎ nǚ) mean, exactly? Does it have inherently negative connotations?</p>

<p>As an aside, why does <a href="http://translate.google.com/">Google</a> translate it as "Needing"?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-06T05:23:11.490Z
孤: 1. a child whose father had died or his parents had died. 2. an alone person. 寡: a women whose husband had died. 孤男寡女 means **a single man and a widow woman**.
xenophōn
<expressions><meaning>
What does the expression "孤男寡女" mean?
# What does the expression "孤男寡女" mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-29)

What does the expression "孤男寡女" (gū nán guǎ nǚ) mean, exactly? Does it have inherently negative connotations?

As an aside, why does [Google](http://translate.google.com/) translate it as "Needing"?

**Tags:** expressions, meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 孤: 1. a child whose father had died or his parents had died. 2. an alone person. 寡: a women whose husband had died. 孤男寡女 means **a single man and a widow woman**.  

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## 4 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2011-12-30. Score: 15 | Accepted answer

username_2's answer is good, but I want to make a clarification on 孤 and 寡. Both of them mean "only one" here, and I don't think "single" is good in this situation since it could mean "unmarried".

example:

you and a female friend of yours are taking in a club, in a room with the door closed,(of course, I don't recommend this :-) ), unfortunately, your wife finds you here, so she would high suspect that you have affairs with your friend.You try to explain, but she retorts,

> 你们孤男寡女，共处(chŭ, to stay in )一室，你还有什么好说的？
>
> one man, one woman, and one room, how could you explain?(I won't believe!)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-29. Score: 8

The phrase, in direct translation, means single guy & single lady. More often than not, it is being used to implying that when a single guy & single lady spending time together alone, bad things/gossips might just happened.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-30. Score: 4

It describes a man and a woman being together (usually in some manner of seclusion). Depending on the marital status of the man and the woman, it can be seen either as a good/normal (a couple dating) or bad thing (a brewing affair). There is no inherent negative connotation unless it is used in certain context.

Google is just confused. It has problems with 寡女 (somehow it was "trained" into translating that into pinyin equivalents `guanv1`) but not with 孤男,寡,女.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Actually I think I know what happened. It's because of a [movie](http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%AD%A4%E7%94%B7%E5%AF%A1%E5%A5%B3_(%E9%9B%BB%E5%BD%B1%29) title "孤男寡女", which was translated to Needing (You) in English.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2013-02-05. Score: 0

A literal translation is "lonely man,lonely woman." To translate it as "needy" is a bit of a stretch, but that's basically what a lonely man and woman (together) are.


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