破瓜

Chinese

		to break; to split; broken to break; to split; broken; damaged; worn out	melon; claw; gourd melon; claw; gourd; squash
trad. (破瓜)		破	瓜
simp. #(破瓜)		破	瓜

Etymology

The shape of the character 瓜 can be decomposed into two 八 (“eight”), thus “breaking 瓜” is used to euphemistically refer to reaching the age of 8+8 (=16) for girls, and 8×8 (=64) for men.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pòguā

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄛˋ ㄍㄨㄚ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pòguā
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄛˋ ㄍㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pògua
    • Wade–Giles: pʻo⁴-kua¹
    • Yale: pwò-gwā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pohgua
    • Palladius: погуа (pogua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ ku̯ä⁵⁵/

Verb

破瓜

1. (literary, of a girl) to reach the age of 16
2. (literary, figurative, of a girl) to lose one's virginity
3. (literary, of a man) to reach the age of 64

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Japanese

Kanji in this term
破	瓜
は Grade: 5	か Jinmeiyō
on’yomi

Noun

破(は)瓜(か) • (haka) 

1. breaking of the hymen by sexual intercourse