肥皂

• Pinyin: féi zào
• Hanzi breakdown: 肥 = 月 + 卩 (flesh + figure — fat, greasy); 皂 = 白 + 匕 (white + spoon — associated with black soapberries used historically for cleaning)

Meaning

Soap. A cleaning product made from fats or oils combined with an alkali, used for washing.

The standard word for bar soap. Also appears in 肥皂剧 (soap opera) and 肥皂泡 (soap bubble / illusion). In modern usage, 洗手液 (liquid hand soap) has become more common in daily life, but 肥皂 remains the general term.

Examples

1. 流行病学研究反复证实，用肥皂和清水按规范步骤洗手至少二十秒，是预防接触性传染病传播最简便且成本最低的公共卫生干预手段。 Epidemiological research has repeatedly shown that washing your hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds, following proper steps, is the simplest and lowest-cost public health intervention for preventing the spread of contact-transmitted infectious diseases.
2. 这家百年老字号肥皂工坊坚持以传统冷制皂工艺生产产品，不添加任何合成香精和化学防腐剂，在天然护肤品市场中积累了一批忠实客群。 This century-old soap workshop sticks to traditional cold-process methods and adds no synthetic fragrances or chemical preservatives, building a loyal customer base in the natural skincare market.
3. 所谓的'商业模式革新'不过是一个肥皂泡，经不起市场的基本检验，项目启动不足半年便因资金链断裂而全面崩盘。 That so-called “business model revolution” was nothing but a soap bubble—it couldn’t withstand even basic market scrutiny, and the project collapsed completely in less than six months when the funding chain broke.

Usage Guide

Context: daily life, health, hygiene, idioms

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 在医院、餐饮和食品加工等高风险环境中，工作人员必须用肥皂或抗菌洗手液规范洗手，以阻断病原体传播。(In high-risk environments such as hospitals, catering, and food processing, workers must wash their hands properly with soap or antibacterial hand wash to block the spread of pathogens.)
• 他把那个所谓的投资机会称为肥皂泡，认为其核心商业逻辑根本经不起推敲，一旦市场情绪转向便会瞬间破裂消散。(He described the so-called investment opportunity as a soap bubble, arguing that its core business logic simply cannot withstand scrutiny and will burst and vanish the moment market sentiment shifts.)

Don't Say

• 肥皂 exclusively to mean bar soap in all contexts — be aware that 肥皂 can appear in compound phrases like 肥皂剧 (soap opera) and 肥皂泡 (empty illusion); read context to determine whether the physical object or a figurative sense is intended

Origin & History

肥 (fat; greasy) + 皂 (black; soap — historically made from black plant ash and animal fat)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal