| 老油条 |
lǎo yóu tiáo |
old fox; slick customer |
| 老 |
lǎo |
prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity / old (of people) / venerable (person) / experienced / of long standing / always / all the time / of the past / very / outdated / (of meat etc) tough |
| 油 |
yóu |
oil / fat / grease / petroleum / to apply tung oil, paint or varnish / oily / greasy / glib / cunning |
| 油条 |
yóu tiáo |
youtiao (deep-fried breadstick) / CL:根 / slick and sly person |
| 条 |
tiáo |
strip / item / article / clause (of law or treaty) / classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc) |