绿帽子

绿帽子

Literally means:

a green hat

Actually means:

man whose wife has an ex-marital affair

绿帽子 means green scarf. It figuratively means a man whose wife has an illegitimate relation with another man. During Yuan and Ming Dynasties, men from the families of prostitutes had to wear green scarves to mark their inferior status. Later people refer to man whose wife had an illegitimate affair as one wearing a green hat. Derogatory.

即绿头巾，比喻妻子有外遇的男子。元朝和明朝规定，娼妓家中的男子戴绿头巾，以表示其男人说成戴绿帽子。具有贬义色。有外遇的。