<p>It indicates that the given name is unknown or intentionally hidden. 'A certain Chen/Liu', 'a Mr. Chen/Liu', 'a Ms. Chen/Liu', etc. </p>

<p>In the case of women 氏 can be used, or was used historically, when only her maiden family name was recorded, e.g. Mao Zedong's paternal grandmother is quoted in Wikipedia as 罗氏, which simply means 'née Luo'. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T12:45:11.173Z
I agree. Just to clarify, this usage of 氏 is for referring to the (possibly multiple) wives or concubines of a man; while 某 as used in the example sentence has no indication of gender to my knowledge.
tvk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-19T10:47:54.067Z
Yes! This usage of 氏 is frequent in 射雕英雄傳 with examples like ：郭嘯天的渾家李氏⋯
Ludi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T05:17:36.963Z
2015-07-18T09:04:51.430Z
2015-07-18T09:04:51.430Z
imrek
<p>It is not rank related. Family name is Chen and Liu, Mou is just kind of omission.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T03:23:00.233Z
2015-07-18T03:23:00.233Z
user11361
<p>What is this 某 after the names? Could it be some kind of rank in the Air Force? Listening to the mp3, it sounds like 'mao' not 'mou' to my ear. </p>

<p>陈某和刘某都曾在空军部队。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T05:46:39.957Z
某某: so-and-so; 陈某: Chen so-and-so
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T07:20:06.067Z
Hi, I downloaded Pleco as you recommended. There's a lot of stuff to buy! I can't afford all of them! I like it, but the second word I entered came up as 2 characters, not a word: 停发，which was not the intended meaning.
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T07:21:56.993Z
If you had downloaded (even the free adsotrans dictionary!) some add-ons you would have found the word you're looking for. guifan: 停止发放 ads: to cease issuing GR: cesser de payer; suspendre le paiement.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T07:54:04.543Z
I think 'a certain Chen', 'a certain Liu' would be better. It works not just with people's names, but with time phrases as well: '某年某月某日'
wpt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T07:58:53.233Z
@Pedroski I don't have the paid add-ons either, only the CEDICT, Pleco dictionaries and the Unicode data, but it's still quite good, this 某 is actually included in the free dictionaries.
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-18T09:05:59.113Z
停发 is included in the free ones aswell, but adsotrans is not the best
Mou某
<meaning>
What is this 某 doing after the names?
# What is this 某 doing after the names?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-07-18)

What is this 某 after the names? Could it be some kind of rank in the Air Force? Listening to the mp3, it sounds like 'mao' not 'mou' to my ear.

陈某和刘某都曾在空军部队。

**Tags:** meaning
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 某某: so-and-so; 陈某: Chen so-and-so  
> **username_0**: Hi, I downloaded Pleco as you recommended. There's a lot of stuff to buy! I can't afford all of them! I like it, but the second word I entered came up as 2 characters, not a word: 停发，which was not the intended meaning.  
> **username_1**: If you had downloaded (even the free adsotrans dictionary!) some add-ons you would have found the word you're looking for. guifan: 停止发放 ads: to cease issuing GR: cesser de payer; suspendre le paiement.  
> **username_2**: I think 'a certain Chen', 'a certain Liu' would be better. It works not just with people's names, but with time phrases as well: '某年某月某日'  
> **username_3**: @Pedroski I don't have the paid add-ons either, only the CEDICT, Pleco dictionaries and the Unicode data, but it's still quite good, this 某 is actually included in the free dictionaries.  
> **username_1**: 停发 is included in the free ones aswell, but adsotrans is not the best  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-07-18. Score: 7

It indicates that the given name is unknown or intentionally hidden. 'A certain Chen/Liu', 'a Mr. Chen/Liu', 'a Ms. Chen/Liu', etc.

In the case of women 氏 can be used, or was used historically, when only her maiden family name was recorded, e.g. Mao Zedong's paternal grandmother is quoted in Wikipedia as 罗氏, which simply means 'née Luo'.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I agree. Just to clarify, this usage of 氏 is for referring to the (possibly multiple) wives or concubines of a man; while 某 as used in the example sentence has no indication of gender to my knowledge.  
> **username_5**: Yes! This usage of 氏 is frequent in 射雕英雄傳 with examples like ：郭嘯天的渾家李氏⋯  

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### Answer by username_6 on 2015-07-18. Score: 2

It is not rank related. Family name is Chen and Liu, Mou is just kind of omission.


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