This week, on my blog, I wanted to tell you guys a bit more about Chinese slang.

Chinese New Year is almost over – well, not yet, because the Lantern Festival has not yet taken place, but let’s just assume that is the case – and it’s time for us to focus on streetwise Chinese.

This is a very large topic, and, obvously, I won’t be able to cover it all here. It is too broad a topic for it to be covered exhaustively. That’s a very interesting one though.

I have decided to solely lay emphasis on some general slang terms used all over the place in China and on some terms used to circumvent the censorship taking place in China.

This post may be used as a guide for those of you who would like to further deepen their understanding of Chinese slang. It’s just a start in your journey into Chinese slang and a lot more awaits you…

Anyway, that being said, let’s get down to the nitty gritty and have a look of some commonplace, classic slang terms you are bound to encounter when going to China. The following terms have been vetted by my personal experience, so I know most of them are used quite often. Thus, I can vouch for their daily use.

Chinese slang

牛(屄/逼)	niú (bī)	awesome, cool. Lit the cow’s private parts…
酷	kù	cool (好酷喔 hǎo kù ō; that’s cool!); lit.,  equiv. cool
太棒了	tài bàngle	awesome! Swell!
放屁	fàngpì	to speak nonsense; lit. ‘to fart’
哥们(儿)	gēmen (er)	mate (friend), buddy, bro
老铁	lǎo tiě	mate (friend), buddy, bro
废话	fèihuà	to speak nonsense,  to trashtalk; lit. ‘to waste words’
吹牛	chuīniú	to brag,  boast
摸鱼	mō yú	to be lazy on the job; lit. to rub fish
赞	zàn	likes, or to “like” (facebook like)
王八蛋	wángbā dàn	son of a bitch; lit. turtle egg
坏蛋	huàidàn	crook,  scoundrel; lit. rotten egg
笨蛋	bèndàn	idiot; lit. stupid egg
二百五	èrbǎiwǔ	250. In China, if you’re 250, you’re stupid.
傻逼	shǎbī	jerk, asshole, motherfucker
弯的	wān de	a bender, gay, queer
杀价	shājià	to haggle, to bargain
同志	tóngzhì	gay or lesbian (normally “comrade” in a Communist context)
狐狸精	húlíjīng	a woman that steals another woman’s man; lit. a fox spirit
一夜情	yīyèqíng	a one-night stand; lit. love for one night
分手	fēnshǒu	to break up in a relationship; to bid farewell; lit. divide hands
No 做 no死 / die	No zuò no sǐ/ die	Don’t look for trouble or you’ll be in trouble
么么哒	me me dá	mwak!, kiss, xxx
自拍	zìpāi	take selfies
葛优躺	géyōu tǎng	couch potato
闺蜜	guīmì	BFF (only for girls)
累死了	lèi sǐle	knackered, exhausted,  worn out
开玩笑, 胡说八道	kāiwánxiào, húshuō bādào	to banter, to kid, to joke
花瓶	huāpíng	an airhead, a bimbo. Hot but very stupid. Lit. An empty vase
丑八怪	chǒubāguài	minger (UK), dog, pig, ugly woman, plain Jade, old boiler, old boot
佛系	fú xì	zen, detached,  let nature takes its course
种草莓	zhǒng cǎoméi	to kiss someone passionately,  leaving a reddish mark (equiv. to give someone a hickey); lit. to plant strawberries
白痴	báichī	idiot; stupidity; lit. white fool
蠢货	chǔnhuò	idiot,  blockhead,  dunce,  moron (used infrequently)
傻瓜	shǎguā	fool,  simpleton (sometimes used lovingly); lit. stupid melon
小子	xiǎozi	guy,  kid; prick,  brat
疯子	fēngzi	madman,  lunatic
发疯	fāfēng	to become insane,  to go mad
娘娘腔	niángniáng qiāng	sissy,  girly,  effeminate (esp. of a male)
傢伙	jiāhuo	guy,  chap (negative); weapon,  gun
吹牛	chuīniú	to brag,  boast
摸鱼	mō yú	to be lazy on the job; lit. to rub fish
干嘛	gàn ma	exclamation,  “What is it now?” or “What do you want now?” “Why”,  indicating irritation; why (impolite)
炒饭	chǎofàn	to make love; lit. to fry rice
闭嘴	bì zuǐ	Shut up !
不造	bù zào	dunno (不知道 in a shortened form)
約炮	yuē pào	booty call,  casual sex
杀马特	shā mǎ tè	Chinese subculture of young urban migrants, usually of low education, with exaggerated hairstyles, heavy make-up, flamboyant costumes, piercings etc (loanword from “smart”)
直男	zhí nán	straight
宅男	zháinán	otaku (male)
宅女	zhái nǚ	otaku (female)
拍马屁	pāimǎpì	to suck up to sb, lick boots. Lit pat on a horse’s butt
马屁精	mǎpìjīng	bootlicker, a brown-noser.
条子	tiáozi	a police officer; a strip (esp. of paper),  a note
老外	lǎowài	foreigner (neutral connotation)
我肏 !（他）妈的	wǒ cào!(Tā) mā de	Fuck!,  Shit!,  To hell with it!,  Damn it!; used to increase vulgarity. 他妈的 can also meaning “fucking…”
扎心了	zhā xīnle	you broke my heart (used for irony or hyperbole)
油腻 (男)	yóunì (nán)	flat slob, repulsive middle-age man, lit. Oily

I couldn’t help but show you a picture of what 杀马特 – shā mǎ tè – is all about. It’s quite famous in China and made me laugh quite a bit the first I heard about this phenomenon.

China being a communist country, some words might be removed from the Chinese keyboard – such as “Wo cao”, whose proper spelling is “我肏”, but which is almost always replaced by 卧槽 due to its similar pronounciation – but, worry no more my friends, because a lot of ways are found to circumvent censorship.

Slang to avoid censorship

I have seen most of these words in use but not all of them. What is more, be cautious when you use them. Some people might not know them or be aware of their double meanings.

河蟹	héxiè	censorship,  harmony (= 和谐）=> river crab
目田	zitian	freedom （=自由）=> my field
躲貓貓	duǒmāomāo	hide and seek (Chinese police brutality in prisons)
抄水表	chāoshuǐbiǎo	Police pays a visit to your place (to check a water meter)
帝都	dìdū	imperial city (making fun of Beijing all too powerful)
打酱油	dǎ jiànɡyóu	just passing by （getting soy sauce）
草泥马	cǎo ní mǎ	Grass Mud Horse… actually means “Fuck your mother”
法克鱿	fǎ kè yóu	French-Croatian Squid… this one is rather explicit.
雅蠛蝶	yǎ miè dié	Small Elegant Butterfly (Yamete: stop it! from Japanese porn)
菊花蚕	jú huā cán	Chrysanthemums scattered… Chrysanthemums means “asshole” in Chinese. So I let you imagine
鹑鸽	chún gē	Quail pigeon ( 春哥= effeminate person)
吉跋猫	jí bá māo	Lucky Journey Cat (鸡巴毛 = hairy penis)
尾申鲸	wěi shēn jīng	Stretch-Tailed Whale ( 卫生巾= menstruation pads )
达菲鸡	dá fēi jī	Intelligent Fragrant Chicken ( 打飞机 = masturbate)
喝茶	he cha	Police investigation （= 核查）
传世	chuanshi	reincarnate （been deleted and created again）
自干五	zi gan wu	50 cents volunteers that use propaganda techniques in favour of the Chinese government
科学上网	kexue shangwang	circumvent China’s internet censorship
宅左	zhaizuo	Chinese Extremist (leftist from the party)

Well, that’s all for our Chinese slang today.

Feel free to let me know if you want me to add some terms in those columns!

I haven’t added Chinese acronyms (used with numbers) yet and will probably do so in the future. Nonetheless, I’ll conclude this post by using 2 examples to illustrate how some might be used: one of the last Chinese slangy term of this page is “88” (baba). It’s often used to say “bye bye” in Chinese because it’s very similar to its Chinese equivalent, just like “thank you” for “3Q” (san Q).

So, 88! 3Q 4 reading that post!

😉