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How old is the "你吃飽了嗎" greeting in Chinese? Has it been around for just about one century or does it go back thousands of years in history?

brilliant
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    你吃饱了吗? actually means - "are you stupid?" / "are you an idiot?" - maybe you're talking about something else like 吃饭了吗？ – Mou某 Dec 12 '16 at 08:16
  • As above comment said, 吃饱 is usually associated with "are you bored and have nothing else to do". The common greeting is 你吃(饭)了吗 - have you eaten yet? – NS.X. Dec 12 '16 at 09:39
  • @user3306356 - I meant "你吃飽了嗎". – brilliant Dec 12 '16 at 12:09
  • @NS.X. - I meant "你吃飽了嗎" – brilliant Dec 12 '16 at 12:09
  • @brilliant "你吃飽了嗎" is not a greeting that I know of - – Mou某 Dec 13 '16 at 07:11
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    @user3306356 - It is a greeting in Taiwan. – brilliant Dec 13 '16 at 09:37
  • @brilliant Are you asking how old this specific formulation is ("你吃飽了嗎"), or are you asking about all kinds of greetings that roughly mean "have you eaten?"? – 米好 '-' Dec 13 '16 at 13:03
  • @米好'-' - I was originally asking about "你吃飽了嗎" not really knowing about other similar greetings in Chinese. However, if there is some info about the origin of the similar ones (perhaps, the origin is unique for all such greetings), then I, of course, would be more than happy to know that. – brilliant Dec 13 '16 at 16:07
  • If you are referring to a greeting sentence, it must be "你吃过了么" rather than "你吃饱了么" – Angli Xue Dec 13 '16 at 08:16
  • @a.xue It IS a greeting in Taiwan. – brilliant Dec 13 '16 at 09:36
  • @brilliant really? that's interesting haha – Angli Xue Dec 14 '16 at 10:05

2 Answers2

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The quick answer to your question is: " No one knows exactly when."

As far as I know, asking someone: " 你吃了飯沒？"(Mandarin) or 你食咗飯未呀？" (Cantonese) is a very typical way to start a conversation nowadays.

It must be a very long time ago. My speculation is: "It started as far back as human communities first formed."

In ancient time, when living was difficult for most, having a reliable food source, able to feed regularly was a major achievement. That fact alone qualified someone's life as a fine one.

It is not hard to imagine, in ancient time, when someone saw his neighbor, the first words out of his mouth would be: "你好嗎?"(how are you) to indicate he was friendly (not a threat) to him. Then followed up with asking how was his life by saying " 你吃了飯沒?" (have you eaten dinner yet?). Since having meals was the most important thing for everyone, you wanted to make sure the other person had already eaten, before engaging him in any activity or conversation.

If the answer was " yes", then you knew his life was fine, and free to engage in activities or conversation with you.

If the answer was no, then it was a chance to invite him to have dinner with you, because it could show off your wealth and generosity. (see? I have food to spare!)

Also, gathering around the fire to have a meal together was an important form of socializing back in those days. If you were not really close to that person, you would just excuse yourself and leave him alone (so he can find food for himself).

We still do the same today. Eating dinner together, is still a major form of socializing.

By the way, the exact wording might be distinct from region to region, and it might have changed many times as time passed.

Tang Ho
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This Taiwanese equivalent of "Ni Hao" greeting means "Are you full?". In Taiwan, where life was difficult in the early years, whether "food and clothing" can definitely directly reflect a person's living conditions.

這句台灣話相當於「你好」的問候，意思是「你吃飽了嗎？」。在早年生活困苦的台灣，是否「溫飽」這件事絕對能直接反應出一個人的生活狀態。

envs_h_gang_5
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