燉冬菇

Chinese

stew a type of shiitake mushroom; Chinese black mushroom
trad. (燉冬菇/炖冬菇) 燉/炖 冬菇
simp. (炖冬菇) 炖 冬菇
alternative forms 燉冬菰／炖冬菰
Literally: “to stew shiitake mushrooms”.

Etymology

From slang used by Hong Kong police. In the early days, when plainclothes police officers were demoted, they had to wear the uniform, which included a mushroom-shaped hat. 燉／炖 (dan6, “to stew”) is a pun on 褪 (tan3, “to go backwards”).

Pronunciation

Verb

燉⫽冬菇 (verb-object)

  1. (Cantonese, idiomatic) to demote

Synonyms

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