The primary meaning of 板 is 'board'. So why does 老板 or 'old board' mean 'boss, chief'?
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search online: 老板是怎么来源的 zhidao.baidu.com/question/243262442.html one explanation:旧时有人在将Chairman of the board（董事长）翻译成中文时便戏称其为“板”，按中国人说话的习惯，在称谓前再加一个“老”字，于是便成了“老板”。经长期流传使用，“老板”一词早已经由最初的戏称演变为一般称呼。– user6065Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 8:58
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闆 is made up with 門 and 品. 門 represents the door, 品 represents the counter or reception of a store, a restaurant, a hotel, etc.– xenophōnCommented Aug 14, 2017 at 2:41
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@user6065 老板的板是闆字的同音替代，和 board 的翻译无关。– xenophōnCommented Aug 14, 2017 at 2:47
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So it means originally the shopkeeper?– Christopher LordCommented Aug 15, 2017 at 8:39
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@ChristopherLord 老闆 means shopkeeper at first, but now the meaning expands wide. The top leaders of a company or coreration are also called 老板. 板 in simplified Chinese is the hmophonic substitution for 闆 in traditional Chinese.– xenophōnCommented Aug 17, 2017 at 11:53
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1 Answer
The reason behind why boss/老板 uses the word "板" is due to the simplifying of the Chinese characters for boss. To get a better understanding, we need to look at the traditional characters, that being 老闆.
板(simplified) and 闆(traditional) and were originally two different words. 板 meanings board, as we can see the 木 (wood) radical.
闆 is the word for a person in charge of a business. Like @xenophōn stated, it's made up of 門(door) and 品(product), giving an image of a product behind the counter/door.
As for 老, it's used as a 前缀/prefix for 尊敬/Respect. Like the following for showing respect:
- 老王(old + lastname, Wang)
- 老公(husband), 老婆(wife)
- 老鼠(Rat), 老虎(Tiger)
- 老外(Foreigner)
For 老鼠(Rat) and 老虎(Tiger), it had interesting reasoning behind them. According to this: https://www.sohu.com/a/669631511_121249627
老鼠(Rat): Rats has a long life. To show respect, Chinese uses 老鼠 and avoid using the word 耗子.
老虎(Tiger): 老 is used to show tigers being 威猛/fierce and brave. Avoiding the word 大虫.
For 老外(Foreigner): Some would think that using the word 老 is used as an offense upon hearing it. However, it's actually used as a prefix for respect as stated before.
老板 is originally suppose to be 老闆. It combines the prefix for respect,"老" and the word for a person in charge of a business "闆". To become "老闆".
