What is a good English translation for "老乡"?

Question

In what contexts can 老乡 used? How do they translate to English?

Answer 1

An appropriate word would be countryman

noun, plural countrymen.

 1. a native or inhabitant of one's own country.
 2. a native or inhabitant of a particular region.
 3. person who lives in the country.
 4. an unsophisticated person, as one who lives in or comes from a rural
    area; rustic.

Meaning from Baidu:

1、老乡的范围可大可小。比如在市里看到同一县的人，在省里看到同一市的人，在全国看到同一省的人，都可以算做老乡
2、以前解放军对百姓们的称呼。

Translated to English:

1. The usage of this word is flexible. For example, it can be applied to those living within the same district of a city, the same city within a province, or the same province within the country.
2. The PLA used to address the commoners this way.

Usage example:

无论是因为工作漂泊在外，还是因为求学进去在外，一句老乡拉近了你我彼此之间的距离。

Answer 2

It shouldn't be using technical translation. Because 老乡 the word itself is very informal and make people feel warm and relax.

I would use pals from hometown if I need to explain this word to foreigner

Answer 3

老乡 is a bit narrower than, but related to the Yiddish לאַנדסמאַן - landsman (with "a"s like the "o" in bottle and a true "s" like pass, not a /z/ like pans). That word, according to Wikipedia, has made it into English as landsman, though I don't think it's widespread (I haven't heard anyone but my mom use it - and then only when describing the Yiddish word).

If you don't like that, maybe an even broader term like compatriot, perhaps? or homey?

Answer 4

The English term that is closest to 老乡 is "country folk" or "countryman"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/folk

3. plural : a certain kind, class, or group of people : old folks | |just plain folk | country folk

Folk is always plural.

• You can describe or address a group of 老乡 as "folks"

• to describe one 老乡 , you can say "that countryman"

• to address one of your own 老乡, you can say " Hey, fellow countryman!"

Answer 5

In Guangdong, especially in Guangzhou the term 老鄉 is used ironically as a derogatory term for someone from a different province or by Cantonese speakers for someone who don't speak the language.

Answer 6

I can't help but think of "homeboys"/"homies"

Answer 7

Probably best to use "someone/people from the same/my hometown".

There are some other options which would work in specific contexts, though:

paisan

which is an Italian loanword to American English. It can mean someone from the same hometown or region.

You could even use:

laoxiang or lao-hsiang

as long as you explain it to anyone who might not be familiar. It has become used in English since the 1990s.

And perhaps, lightheartedly:

hometown mafia, analogous to phrases such as PayPal mafia