# Chinese-Speakers: Is "Xao" A Word? If So, What Does It Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 28, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501 "2004-04-28T16:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/1 "2004-04-28T16:21:49Z")
_sigh_ I ask because my best friend’s (younger, slightly transy) sister named her son Xao Alexander. :rolleyes: (Her baby’s daddy liked the name “Xao” but wanted to spell it “Zao.” She “won” that argument. :eek: ) ---
**Author:** ![chukhung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e79b87/32.png) [@chukhung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chukhung)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/2 "2004-04-28T16:40:22Z")
I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to your question, but you might want to ask Vietnamese and Portuguese speakers for their translations as well. A quick spin on Google finds “xao” (with various diacriticals) on websites written in those languages. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/3 "2004-04-28T16:47:38Z")
“transy”? ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/4 "2004-04-28T17:09:49Z")
Thanks for the info - it seems to be a town in Vietnam as well as a noodle or something. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/5 "2004-04-28T18:01:46Z")
> [@](#): > > “transy”? Transvestite? ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/6 "2004-04-28T18:13:58Z")
“Transy” should read “trashy.” :smack: (She’s a bit of a skank.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/7 "2004-04-28T18:22:48Z")
I believe this word means “small”, and is sort of pronounced like the word “chow”, but with a “sh” sound instead of a “ch” sound. It would be written sort of like this: | / | / Three strokes, starting with a J stroke, then little bird wings on each side. The intonation is \ / (down, then up). So, the pitch drops, then rises. Sorta like how a question in English is pronounced with a rising pitch at the end. Substitute a question mark for the period in the previous sentence to see what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/8 "2004-04-28T18:25:11Z")
Apparently my ascii art got screwed up… here’s another try: …| ./…|… …/ (if I replace space with periods) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/9 "2004-04-28T20:34:17Z")
Since Chinese is not written in roman letters, the real question here is: does “Xao” represent the romanization of any Chinese word? None of the three major systems of romanization (pinyin, Wade-Giles, and Yale) allow the combination of an ‘X’ initial and a ‘ao’ final. But, who’s to say a name has to stick to established systems of romanization? It could be a way to write the word normally romanized as ‘xiao’, which a previous poster indicated means small, but this would make for quite a weird name (and a weird romanization to boot). If they pronounce it like ‘zao’, it could mean a whole lot of things (anything from “rotten” to “early”). ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/10 "2004-04-28T20:59:29Z")
It’s pronounced so that it rhymes with “mayo.” Early? Rotten? Check and … well, I’ll check back in a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/11 "2004-04-28T21:07:47Z")
Rhymes with “mayo” eh? Well, I could be mistaken, but I can’t think of any Chinese word that rhymes with “mayo” (at least in standard pronunciation). “Xiao [small]” is pronounced like the “show-” part of “shower” (as in the thing that sprays water on you in the tub, not a person who demonstrates). If it helps, Zao also means “suffer,” “chisel,” “flea,” “bath,” “the chirping of birds,” “clamour,” “stove,” “soap,” and “build”–depending on the tone and the context. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/12 "2004-04-29T02:54:13Z")
Heck, be glad she named him something relatively simple like “Xao.” She could have named him Lemonjello or Oranjello. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/13 "2004-04-29T03:03:49Z")
This could provide a clue: [http://www.newgrounds.com/collections/xiao.html](http://www.newgrounds.com/collections/xiao.html) Or it could just be really entertaining flash animation. ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/14 "2004-04-29T04:46:56Z")
Xao isn’t valid a valid pinyin (romanized Chinese) spellling. Xiao is. The most common meaning is “small” (xiao3), but according to [zhongwen.com](http://zhongwen.com) there are 20 characters with that spelling (divided among the four tones). You’ll commonly hear it said that Pinyin “x” is equivalent to the “sh” sound in “shoe”. That’s not strictly true. Pinyin has two related letters, “x” and “sh”, which both sound a little like the sound in “shoe” or “shove”. The difference is the position of the lips and tongue. When you say “x”, the lips are barely parted and the tongue is curled down and inward. There is kind of an inherent hiss to the sound. Pinyin “x” can only be followed by “i” or “u”. When you say “sh”, the lips are open and rounded and the tongue is curled upward. I’d best stop here before this develops into a pronunciation lesson, so here’s the summary. Zao good (but pronounced “dzao”), shao good (remember to curl your tongue), xao bad. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/15 "2004-04-29T04:48:04Z")
Also note that “spellling” is not a valid _English_ spelling. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/16 "2004-04-29T10:25:05Z")
Why not **N!xau** — the name of the late Bushman who starred in _The Gods Must Be Crazy_ ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/17 "2004-04-29T10:51:18Z")
As pointed out earlier, it’s not any standardized Chinese romanization. Nor does it correspond to the romanizations used in Singapore/Malaysia Chinese communities. Sing/Malay Chinese have some really unusual spellings based on whatever dialect the name is, but they don’t use “X”. so if your friend was trying to do Chinese, she miss-spelled her kid’s name :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/18 "2004-04-29T14:05:13Z")
Well, thanks for all of the info. She wasn’t trying to go for anything Chinese - her baby’s daddy used the name “Zao” for something or other online, and she liked it, but wanted to spell it with an “X.” _Fabulous_ way to name your child, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/19 "2004-04-29T15:23:24Z")
I’ve seen the word xiao used to describe food. One place by me has “xiao-ping pork” whick is small strips of spicy pork (fabulous by the way). Whether this is any proof that the most common use of the word in the US is for “small”, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501/20 "2004-04-30T21:01:57Z")
> [@Zhao Daoli](#): > > It could be a way to write the word normally romanized as ‘xiao’, which a previous poster indicated means small, but this would make for quite a weird name Not that strange – “small” is generally considered the literal meaning of the English name _Paul_, Spanish _Pablo_, and the like. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-speakers-is-xao-a-word-if-so-what-does-it-mean/242501.md?page=2)