饭碗

• Pinyin: fàn wǎn
• Hanzi breakdown: 饭 = 饣 + 反 (food radical + return — processed/cooked grain); 碗 = 石 + 宛 (stone + curved — a curved vessel for eating)

Meaning

Rice bowl; job; livelihood. Literally a bowl for eating rice; figuratively one's source of income or position of employment.

The figurative meaning (job/livelihood) is far more common at this level. 饭碗 carries a sense of security and dependency — losing one's 饭碗 means losing one's economic foundation. Key idiom: 铁饭碗 (iron rice bowl) = a secure, unloseable government job. 砸饭碗 = to destroy someone's livelihood.

Examples

1. 随着人工智能技术在制造业和服务业的大规模应用，许多传统从业者开始担忧自己的饭碗会被机器所取代。 As artificial intelligence is adopted on a large scale in manufacturing and services, many traditional workers are starting to worry that machines will take away their livelihoods.
2. 在就业市场竞争日趋激烈的背景下，越来越多的年轻人选择考取公务员，将稳定的饭碗视为优先于高薪的核心诉求。 With job-market competition growing ever more intense, more and more young people choose to take the civil service exam, putting a stable job ahead of higher pay.
3. 工厂搬迁的消息传出后，周边社区的居民们议论纷纷，最担心的还是那些在此工作了二十余年的老工人的饭碗问题。 After news spread that the factory would relocate, people in nearby neighborhoods talked nonstop; what worried them most was the livelihood of veteran workers who had been employed there for more than twenty years.

Usage Guide

Context: workplace, economics, everyday, social

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 这项政策的调整直接影响到数以万计工人的饭碗问题，决策部门在出台方案前必须充分评估其对就业的冲击，并提前制定相应的转岗安置计划。(This policy adjustment directly affects the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers; the decision-making authorities must fully assess its employment impact before issuing the plan and prepare redeployment and resettlement measures in advance.)
• 他明知道当众质疑领导的决策很可能砸了自己的饭碗，但出于对职业道德的坚守，他还是选择在会议上提出了不同意见。(He knew full well that openly challenging his superior's decision could cost him his job, but out of a commitment to professional ethics, he chose to raise his dissenting view at the meeting.)

Don't Say

• 我的饭碗很好 — 饭碗 does not take quality adjectives; say 我的工作很稳定 or 我端的是铁饭碗 to convey job security

Origin & History

饭 (cooked rice/meal) + 碗 (bowl) — the bowl one eats from; by extension, one's means of sustaining life

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal