蓝领
lán lǐng · HSK 6
common laborer
👷🔧 lan ling = blue collar — literally blue (蓝) + collar (领)
The Chinese calque mirrors the English term exactly: 蓝 means blue and 领 means collar or neck area. Both languages use the same clothing metaphor for manual laborers.
蓝 — grass radical 艹 + 監 (jiān, phonetic)
蓝 originally referred to the indigo plant used to make blue dye. The grass radical 艹 signals a plant, while 監 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning extended from the dye plant to the color blue itself.
领 — 令 (command, phonetic) + 页 (head)
A semantic-phonetic compound. 页 (head/page) gives the meaning, originally referring to the neck or collar — the part connecting the head to the body. 令 supplies the sound. From 'neck/collar' it extended to 'lead, guide, receive,' since the neck leads the body.