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My grandma always referred to me as a "好吃jin(g?)" i.e. a glutton. However I'm not sure which character goes in the third one. This might be regional (Anhui) dialect, I am not sure, because I couldn't find an appropriate word in the dictionary or keyboard suggestions.

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I would suggest 「好吃精」 (Mandarin Pinyin: hàochī jīng), where 「精」 is short for something like 「妖精」 (demon). 「好吃精」 then means glutton demon.

See also https://baike.baidu.com/item/好吃鬼, where 「好吃精」 is listed as a synonym.

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  • A word of caution: 「好吃精」 can be alternatively interpreted as a love for a sexual act - don't search this term up at work!
    – dROOOze
    May 4, 2021 at 20:53
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好 (love to)

吃 (eat)

精 (spirit/ demon)

好吃精 = a demon who loves to eat = gluttonous person/ greedy eater

It is the same as 為食鬼 or 為食貓 in Cantonese; 饞鬼 in Mandarin

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It's 好吃惊, which means I'm really surprised. Character jing, 惊, can be also used for 惊喜, which means surprise. Also for 惊吓,which means being shocked. I saw people answer 好吃精。I promise that as a Chinese I have never heard about any one using this word.

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    好吃驚 (describing the grandmother) seems even more far fetched than 好吃精 (describing the asker) ... sometimes dialectal expressions are weird to the ear of a standard Mandarin speaker; we need to be aware of that.
    – L Parker
    May 4, 2021 at 22:55
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    The OP is being called a「好吃jing」by his grandmother.
    – Tang Ho
    May 5, 2021 at 0:54
  • Also, as a Chinese, there are a lot of Chinese terms from other regions I have never heard of.
    – Tang Ho
    May 5, 2021 at 1:10
  • A distinction should, however, be made between a glutton, (i.e. 好吃精, 為食鬼, etc), and someone having a more discerning palate, i.e. 口感好. BTW, the 好 in 好吃精 is pronounced slightly differently. May 5, 2021 at 2:14

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