text: The associations of the prefix  can be positive, indicating age or experience—such as lǎopéngyou ()—or respect, as in the familiar use of lǎo to denote the senior and respected members of families or to address teachers (, lǎoshī). It may also be used in combination with part of a person's name (usually the family name) to refer to that person in a familiar and respectful way (for example a person with the surname 周, or Zhōu, could be referred to as 老周, literally "Old Zhōu"). This usage is reserved exclusively for adults, but implies familiarity rather than seniority, and is often attached to specific individuals as a nickname rather than being freely used.
  However, in certain restricted contexts, it can also carry negative connotations of being old or aged looking (), boring old —as in lǎo gǔdǒng ()—or of years of experience and contempt—as in lǎo dōngxi (, lit. "old thing"). It may be used in the arts or in jokes with the sense of "always" or "very": a famous comedy role was named the Lǎoniān (老蔫, "Constantly Listless"). As a pun with lǎoshī "teacher", , Tom Hardy was affectionately known in mainland China as Lǎoshī ( s ) partly for his perpetually shiny hair.