# 有钱买房买车



## TheZoolooMaster

Hi everybody; I'd like clarification over this phrase， “有钱买房买车” which I suspect might be an idiom. The literal meaning is clearly, "have money to buy a home and a car". But does it convey something more specific? Thanks in advance.


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## xiaolijie

> The literal meaning is clearly, "have money to buy a home and a car". But does it convey something more specific?


You're correct, and to answer your question, the context will definitely help: Where did you get the phrase? Can you give the whole sentence?
(By guessing, “有钱买房买车” can mean "to be rich", but why depend on guessing and not on something that we can tell for sure? )


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## TheZoolooMaster

^^
Thanks for the reply. They can't be too rich though, because it's about the middle class.  Here's the full sentence ：

也可以说 ，中产阶层就是那些有稳定的收入 、有钱买房买车 、有钱去玩儿的人 ，也是那些过着很好的生活 、但是又很累的人。


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## xiaolijie

> They can't be too rich though


Yes, “有钱买房买车” is rich enough for me! 

Yes, your sentence is about things that the middle class enjoy: having a stable income and money for buying a house, car and going on holidays, etc...


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## FRee^ARouND

Yes you got it. But I take it as a fashion idiom. More informations if anyone like: 1 China(Mainland) is not rich ,though her never lacks millionaires. Having additional money to but house and car can definitely be classified as above-middle. Especially in recent years, real estate price was greatly inflated as you might known. 2 儿 in 玩儿 implies the author is from Peking (I suppose). The estate prices in Peking & Shanghai are totally unaffordable to ordinary Chinese even middle class. Most other cities' estate prices are just a little expensive 3 China was rather poor 30 years ago, and most people still poor today. Unlike your western world, where every family can buy a car as long as they want. The generation which have power now, the whole generation, was growing in real poor conditions. Though cars are common today, in their deepest mind, having a car means power, means social status, proves they are living well. I didn't even count the heavy import taxes.
My reply was a little out of the topic though. Hope it won't be deleted


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## SuperXW

有钱买房买车 is an idiom now? I think it stays at its literal meaning... 0.0


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## BODYholic

TheZoolooMaster said:


> ^^
> Thanks for the reply. They can't be too rich though, because it's about the middle class.  Here's the full sentence ：
> 
> 也可以说 ，中产阶层就是那些有稳定的收入 、有钱买房买车 、有钱去玩儿的人 ，也是那些过着很好的生活 、但是又很累的人。



The underlined words can be split but it made the sentence a tad long-winded.

也可以说 ，中产阶层就是那些有稳定的收入 、有钱买房、有钱买车、有钱去玩的人 ，也是那些过着很好的生活 、*但是又很累的人*。

Note: The essence of the entire sentence is at the end.


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## FRee^ARouND

It is a linguistics matter I think . Or we can take it in this way: if poor guys want to be rich, notice that 买房&买车 are aways show up together and combined as 买房买车 in his aspiration. That means two things: 1 This combination is widely-received. 2买房买车 stands for rich in ordinary people's mind(Otherwise it will be strange for some kinds of cars are really cheap today)
 Isn't that a kind of idiom? Though it truly have more literal meaning than its figurative meaning.





SuperXW said:


> 有钱买房买车 is an idiom now? I think it stays at its literal meaning... 0.0


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## xiaolijie

Gentlemen, let me sort it out for you! 
有钱 is often used non-literally to mean "to be rich". It's also often used literally "to have money", of course.
有钱买房买车 is more often used in its literal sense but can also be used to imply "being rich".

I don't think either is qualified as an idiom but I'd say both are idiomatic Chinese.


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## english01

it just mean that you are rich enought in order to buy these two essential goods: house and car. So you have reached a good income that allows you to buy all the necessary you need. That's not only referred to the middle-class but in general, whoever can.


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## Queen Z

I don't agree with you for "most people still poor today. Unlike your western world, where every family can buy a car as long as they want."
Not because people in Mainland are poor, but the price of a car is expensive. So it is the tax problem.
What's more, petrol price in China is incredible high(compare to other countries) and don't forget the highway toll and bridge toll...


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## Queen Z

I don't agree with you for "most people still poor today. Unlike your western world, where every family can buy a car as long as they want."
Not because people in Mainland are poor, but the price of a car is expensive. So it is the tax problem.
What's more, petrol price in China is incredible high(compare to other countries) and don't forget the highway toll and bridge toll...​


FRee^ARouND said:


> Yes you got it. But I take it as a fashion idiom. More informations if anyone like: 1 China(Mainland) is not rich ,though her never lacks millionaires. Having additional money to but house and car can definitely be classified as above-middle. Especially in recent years, real estate price was greatly inflated as you might known. 2 儿 in 玩儿 implies the author is from Peking (I suppose). The estate prices in Peking & Shanghai are totally unaffordable to ordinary Chinese even middle class. Most other cities' estate prices are just a little expensive 3 China was rather poor 30 years ago, and most people still poor today. Unlike your western world, where every family can buy a car as long as they want. The generation which have power now, the whole generation, was growing in real poor conditions. Though cars are common today, in their deepest mind, having a car means power, means social status, proves they are living well. I didn't even count the heavy import taxes.
> My reply was a little out of the topic though. Hope it won't be deleted


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## FRee^ARouND

Queen Z said:


> I don't agree with you for "most people still poor today. Unlike your western world, where every family can buy a car as long as they want."
> Not because people in Mainland are poor, but the price of a car is expensive. So it is the tax problem.
> What's more, petrol price in China is incredible high(compare to other countries) and don't forget the highway toll and bridge toll...



I've PM you, since it is inappropriate to discuss here.

*WR Forum Rules 

Rule #2. Don’t use the forum as a chat board (it is inefficient); use the private message (PM) feature if you want to send a personal message to another forum member*


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