The concept of 蛋 dàn / egg in the Chinese language

 

Further to the blog “Students’ mistakes are much more fun” (https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2024/10/students-mistakes-are-much-more-fun.html): 

蛋 dàn / egg is used as a suffix in a number of Chinese words, more often uncomplimentary than neutral, e.g.,  

    王八蛋 wáng bā dàn / "wáng/king eight egg" = (offensive) bastard

* 王八 wáng bā = tortoise / cuckold / male brothel-owner 

* 蛋 dàn = egg, here = offspring

    笨蛋 bèn dàn / "stupid egg" — a lot of Chinese offensive labels use animal imagery to compound the insult, i.e., that the person being insulted is not even human (cf. English with "cur", "donkey", "rat", "snake", etc.)

    A mnemonic or explanation suggested for why 蛋 dàn / egg is used in 穷光蛋 qióng guāng dàn for a pauper is that the person is so poor that he has nothing (the “光 guāng / bare” bit), to the point of being like an egg — completely bald, with nothing on its surface, bare of possessions.