# xiaohuren, what does it mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861 "2005-08-20T05:25:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![surlyprince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surlyprince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surlyprince)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/1 "2005-08-20T05:25:59Z")
In english that is. I believe it’s chinese. but google just gives me what looks like sites about strip clubs in german. SP ---
**Author:** ![WonJohnSoup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f17d59/32.png) [@WonJohnSoup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonJohnSoup)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/2 "2005-08-20T05:34:55Z")
> [@surlyprince](#): > > In english that is. I believe it’s chinese. but google just gives me what looks like sites about strip clubs in german. > > SP It’s definitely Chinese. Do you have the actual characters or atleast the tones? My Chinese actually isn’t as good as I’d like it to be, but from here it looks like “Little non-Han person.” Or maybe, “Little fox person?” ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/3 "2005-08-20T11:41:01Z")
> [@WonJohnSoup](#): > > It’s definitely Chinese. Do you have the actual characters or atleast the tones? It would also help if you could provide some context as to where you orginally saw the phrase. ---
**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:** [August 20, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/4 "2005-08-20T15:38:46Z")
Thing is, _xiao_ has four tones and each of those tones has different characters, different words, different meanings. The same goes for _hu_. At least _ren_ is pretty unambiguous. _Ren_ means ‘person’. Chinese often forms two-character compounds to help remove ambiguity of single syllables. If there were a known compound _xiao-hu_, we could answer the OP with a fairly high level of confidence. Unfortunately, the two Chinese dictionaries that I have do not include such a compound. So we’re back to analyzing single characters. Unless… Are you sure you spelled it right? The compound _xiao-hua_ means ‘joke’, derived from _xiao_ ‘smile, laugh’ and _hua_ ‘word, talk’. So _xiaohuaren_ would mean ‘joker’. _Shutnik_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![surlyprince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surlyprince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surlyprince)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/5 "2005-08-21T03:16:06Z")
As far as I know it’s spelled correctly. There is really no context, it’s someone’s email address and license plate #. Little fox, joker, both seem plausible. Now that I think about it, The license plate may be xiao hu (or hua). I was trying to look smart and cultured (not so _white_), but I guess I’ll just have to ask them what \*they \* think it means. Thanks all. SP ---
**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:** [August 21, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xiaohuren-what-does-it-mean/317861/6 "2005-08-21T03:29:59Z")
OK, when you find out what it means, c’mon back here and post it.