yuanyang

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 鴛鴦／鸳鸯 (yuānyāng, literally “male (鴛) and female (鴦) mandarin duck”).

Noun

yuanyang (countable and uncountable, plural yuanyangs)

  1. (China) A pair of mandarin ducks, one male and one female, as a symbol of faithful union.
    • 1889, Congressional Serial Set, page 460:
      The yuanyang are the male and female respectively of Anas galericulata, commonly called by Europeans "Mandarin duck." These beautiful water-fowl manifest when mated a singular degree of attachment for each other, and they have hence been elevated into the emblems of connubial affection and fidelity.
    • 2006, Pi-Ching Hsu, Beyond Eroticism: A Historian's Reading of Humor in Feng Menglong's Child's Folly:
      Yuanyang, the Mandarin duck, mates for life, and is hence a symbol of conjugal felicity.
    • 2016, Matt Huang, Grace Hsu, Young China Hand, →ISBN:
      May the pair of yuanyang 鸳鸯 augur well for our proposed union with Dominant Duck," said Susie gaily.
  2. Synonym of yuenyeung
    • 2012, Avani Burdett, Delicatessen Cookbook - Burdett's Delicatessen Recipes, →ISBN:
      Yuanyang, sometimes also called Ying Yong, is a popular beverage in Hong Kong, made of a mixture of coffee and Hong-style milk tea.
    • 2013, Andrew Dalby, The Breakfast Book, →ISBN, page 92:
      It is even enjoyed as a unique half tea, half coffee milky mix, yuanyang, a conjugal pairing as disparate as male and female Mandarin ducks (yes, it gets its name from the ducks).
    • 2013, Matthew Gerwitz, Disposable Catheters and Other Musings, →ISBN, page 7:
      After just thirty minutes and very limited math skills, my research indicated there are far too many people buying Double-Espresso Macchiato Yuanyangs just prior to entering the expressway for the morning's "rush hour", if you know what I mean.
    • 2015, T Turner, Hong Kong 2016 - : Have an Adventure!:
      Yuanyang is also a popular drink mixed with milk tea and coffee.
    • 2016, Michael Zee, SymmetryBreakfast, →ISBN, page 133:
      It comes as no surprise that Hong Kongers have discovered the joys of combining tea and coffee to create yuanyang.

Derived terms
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