The origin of "小王"

And so the other day while chatting with a friend, we came to the topic of 3rd parties in a marriage/relationship. The now-common term "小三" is used to refer to these 3rd parties, because, well, "三" equals to the number 3.

And when "小三" comes up in a conversion, I would automatically think of a woman, ie, the 3rd party is a female. Does this "小三" also refer to the male 3rd party? Apparently not.

Male 3rd parties are referred to as "小王". When I first learnt of it, my first thought was, "What? Prince?? Serious???" Both are 3rd parties, but the female version has such obvious negative connotations - a direct "小三" - while the male version is the opposite? It even somehow sounds cool?

But I was mistaken. The origin of the term came to be by adding a stroke to "三" - the stroke being a direct reference to a certain part of the male anatomy. Thus the male "小三" became "小王". And coincidence or not, "小王" also has the connotation of "male".

Ah, people's creativity and the wonders of language.

For those who know Chinese, here's an article from 蘋果日報 on this topic: 《「多一根」 男小三新稱「小王」》