老板

• Pinyin: lǎo bǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 老 = 耂 (old) + 匕 (change), signifying age and respect; 板 = 木 (wood) + 反 (reverse), originally a wooden board

Meaning

Boss; business owner; employer. The most common word for the person in charge at a workplace or shop.

Used extremely widely in daily life — not only for your workplace superior, but also as a casual way to address shop owners, restaurant owners, and even vendors. In some regions, customers call any shopkeeper 老板 or 老板娘 (female boss/wife of the boss). Can also mean the person who is paying, as in who is treating.

Examples

1. 老板今天让我们早点儿下班。 The boss let us leave work early today.
2. 这家餐厅的老板是我的朋友。 The owner of this restaurant is my friend.
3. 老板说下个月工资会涨一点儿。 The boss said salaries will go up a little next month.

Usage Guide

Context: workplace, business, shopping

Tone: casual

Do Say

• 老板，买单！(Boss, the bill please! — used at restaurants.)
• 我们老板人很好，对员工很关心。(Our boss is a good person — very caring towards employees.)

Don't Say

• 老板，你好笨。(Never use disrespectful language when addressing your boss — 老板 implies respect for their position.)

Origin & History

老 means old or familiar (a term of respect); 板 originally meant a board or plank. In business contexts, 板 came to mean the person who holds the board — the proprietor who makes the decisions.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal