# Chinese (Mandarin)/Slang

Mandarin, like any language, has its own slang words and informal meanings for some common words. For example, 同志 (tóngzhì - comrade, a commonly used under Communism) now has a second meaning of "gay person" (because it literally means "same aspirations"—in this case sexual proclivities rather than political interests), and the female equivalent 小姐 (xiǎojiě, often used with service personnel such as waitresses) can also refer to a prostitute. Below is a partial list of common slang terms. The letters "xx" stand for someone or something, lit. gives a literal translation, and equiv. refers to an equivalent English expression.

## Slang List

| 简体 | 繁體 | Pinyin | Meaning(s), Literal and Figurative |
| 酷 | 酷 | kù | cool (好酷喔 hǎo kù ō; that's cool!); lit., equiv. cool |
| 帅 | 帥 | shuài | good looking, handsome (of a guy) |
| 帅呆（了） | 帥呆(了) | shuàidāi(le) | very good looking, a hunk (of a guy); very good, awesome (of a situation) |
| 爽 | 爽 | shuǎng | satisfying, enjoyable, (as in 我昨天去按摩超爽(的)。 "The massage yesterday was very satisfying." |
| 过瘾 | 過癮 | guòyǐn | entertaining; very pleasing; addictive |
| 不行了 | 不行了 | bùxíngle | dying, at the point of death; lit. not OK anymore |
| 超 | 超 | chāo | very, extremely, super, ultra- (as in 超冷 "very cold", 超酷 "very cool") |
| 惹 | 惹 | rě | to annoy, provoke, offend, or get on someone's nerves(as in 你幹嘛老是惹我？ "Why do you always get on my nerves?") |
| 碍眼 | 礙眼 | àiyǎn | annoying, get-in-the-way (as in 你在這裡很礙眼, 趕快去做一些有用的事情吧! "You are being a nuisance, go see whether you can make yourself useful somewhere else!); lit. 'hinder the eye' |
| 胡闹 | 胡鬧 | húnào | make trouble, be a nuisance (as in 你現在馬上給我安靜睡覺,不要再胡鬧! "you are going to sleep right now, no more nonsense!"); lit ‘nonsense quarrel’ |
| 感冒 | 感冒 | gǎnmào | (catch) a cold; to develop an aversion against someone (as in 我說了那句話之後,她就對我感冒了 "after I said that she got upset with me") |
| 机车 | 機車 | jīchē | (noun) motorcycle; adj: used to describe someone displaying annoying behavior (as in 她很機車 "she's annoying") |
| 离谱 | 離譜 | lípǔ | preposterous, outrageous; lit. leaving the manual or musical score (as in 你這樣作實在是太離譜。 "You are really out of line doing things like that.") |
| 扯 | 扯 | chě | farfetched, unimaginable, defying all logic (as in 很扯! "Unbelievable!", 太扯了吧! "That is ridiculous!", 你扯到哪裡去? "What are you talking about?"); lit. drag, pull; chat |
| 扯xx（的）后腿 | 扯xx（的）後腿 | chě xx (de) hòutuǐ | to be a drag on xx, be a hindrance; lit. to pull xx's hind legs |
| 正 | 正 | zhèng | classy, good quality, high class (as in 正妹 "a classy chick", 他的女朋友很正。 "He has a knock out girlfriend.") |
| 耍 | 耍 | shuǎ | cheat, deceive (as in 你想耍我嗎? "You must be kidding.") |
| 耍嘴皮 | 耍嘴皮 | shuǎzuǐpí | to talk slickly, to pay lip service |
| 耍赖 | 耍賴 | shuǎlài | to act shamelessly; to act indifferent |
| 赖皮 | 賴皮 | làipí | to act shameless, brazen, like a rascal; rascal, villain |
| 混 | 混 | hùn | to muddle along, to partake in a given activity in a lazy and unserious manner(as in 我這裡已經快混不下去了。 "I'm about to get kicked out of here." (school or company etc), 你還想混多久? "How much longer are you planning to go on like this?") |
| 摸鱼 | 摸魚 | móyú | to be lazy on the job; lit. to rub fish |
| 鱿鱼 | 魷魚 | yóuyú | marching orders; lit. squid |
| 炒鱿鱼 | 炒魷魚 | chǎoyóuyú | to be fired, sacked; lit. to fry squid, equiv. "getting a pink slip" |
| 烂 | 爛 | làn | rotten, crappy |
| 烂掉 | 爛掉 | làndiào | to rot, to go bad |
| 烂摊子 | 爛攤子 | làntānzi | bad situation, mess (as in 我可以收他的爛攤子。 "I can take care of the mess he created.") |
| 烂醉 | 爛醉 | lànzuì | piss drunk, blind drunk, dead drunk |
| 烂好人 | 爛好人 | lànhǎorén | spineless, weak person; lit. rotten good person |
| 透 | 透 | tòu | extremely, completely, used as a suffix (as in 爛透了 'extremely crappy'); lit. through |
| 吓死 | 嚇死 | xiàsǐ | terrified; lit., equiv. scared to death |
| 难搞 | 難搞 | nángǎo | hard to deal with, downright |
| 休想 | 休想 | xiūxiǎng | never (interjection), lit., equiv. in your dreams |
| 吹牛 | 吹牛 | chuīniú | to brag, boast |
| 吹 | 吹 | chuī | to brag, boast |
| 自大 | 自大 | zìdà | arrogant, overbearing |
| 臭屁 | 臭屁 | chòupì | arrogant, overbearing; equiv. cocky, lit. stinking fart |
| 摆架子 | 擺架子 | bǎijiàzi | to put on an airs, to act like the master of, to be arrogant; lit. to swing a rack, shelf |
| 假君子 | 假君子 | jiǎjūnzǐ | equiv. a wolf in sheep's clothes, lit. a fake gentleman |
| 上流社会 | 上流社會 | shàngliú shèhuì | lit. high society, the rich and famous; equiv. upper crust |
| 黑社会 | 黑社會 | hēishèhuì | triad, triad society; lit. the underworld, equiv. gangland |
| 流氓 | 流氓 | liúmáng | rogue, gangster, hoodlum; lit. flowing vagrant |
| 老大 | 老大 | lǎodà | the big boss, older, elder |
| 小弟 | 小弟 | xiǎodì | younger members of a gang; lit. little brother |
| 吵架 | 吵架 | chǎojià | to quarrel, to argue |
| 斗嘴 | 鬥嘴 | dòuzuǐ | bicker, squabble (lit. to fight with the mouth) |
| 打架 | 打架 | dǎjià | to fight, scuffle (physically) |
| 把风 | 把風 | bǎfēng | to keep watch, be on the look out (esp. during a heist) |
| 坏胚子 | 壞胚子 | huài pēizi | a bad personal characteristic |
| 好兄弟 | 好兄弟 | hǎo xiōngdì | a ghost; a good friend; lit. good brother |
| 不干净 | 不乾淨 | bù gānjìng | not clean; haunted (by ghosts) |
| 夜总会 | 夜總會 | yèzǒnghuì | nightclub; graveyard |
| 菜鸟 | 菜鳥 | càiniǎo | rookie, beginner, novice, inexperienced person; lit. 'vegetable bird' |
| 天真 | 天真 | tiānzhēn | naive (said mostly of young girls); lit 'heaven real' |
| 猪头 | 豬頭 | zhūtóu | idiot; lit. pig's head |
| 笨蛋 | 笨蛋 | bèndàn | idiot; lit. stupid egg |
| 坏蛋 | 壞蛋 | huàidàn | crook, scoundrel; lit. rotten egg |
| 王八蛋 | 王八蛋 | wángbādàn | son of a bitch; lit. turtle egg |
| 货 | 货 | huò | goods, merchandise, stuff; drugs |
| 白痴 | 白痴 | báichī | idiot; stupidity; lit. white fool |
| 蠢货 | 蠢貨 | chǔnhuò | idiot, blockhead, dunce, moron (used infrequently) |
| 傻瓜 | 傻瓜 | shǎguā | fool, simpleton (sometimes used lovingly); lit. stupid melon |
| 小子 | 小子 | xiǎozi | guy, kid; prick, brat |
| 疯子 | 瘋子 | fēngzi | madman, lunatic |
| 发疯 | 發瘋 | fāfēng | to become insane, to go mad |
| 娘娘腔 | 娘娘腔 | niángniangqiāng | sissy, girly, effeminate (esp. of a male) |
| 傢伙 | 傢伙 | jiāhuo | guy, chap (negative); weapon, gun |
| 毒蟲 | 毒蟲 | dúchóng | junky, someone on drugs; lit. poisonous insect |
| 吸毒 | 吸毒 | xīdú | to drug, to take drugs (esp. narcotics); lit. to absorb poison |
| 上瘾 | 上癮 | shàngyǐn | to become addicted; addictive; Used colloquially: 'get hooked to something' (as in 這種啤酒太好喝了,我快要上癮了 "This kind of beer is too tasty, I'm about to get hooked" |
| 崩溃 | 崩潰 | bēngkuì | debacle; to fall apart, to collapse, esp. mental collapse |
| 欠xx | 欠xx | qiàn-xx | to owe xx (as in, 欠錢 "owe money", 欠情 "owe a favor"); to ask/beg for xx (as in, 欠念 "asking for a verbal dress down", 欠揍 "asking for a beating") |
| 放xx(的)鸽子 | 放xx(的)鴿子 | fàng xx gēzi | to (intentionally) not not come for xx; to miss xx's appointment, equiv. to stand xx up, to be a no-show (as in, 不要放我鴿子喔！ "Don't stand me up!"); lit. release xx pigeons |
| 吃xx(的)豆腐 | 吃xx(的)豆腐 | chī xx (de) dòufu | to commit borderline sexual harassment with a woman (as in, 不要吃我的豆腐。 "Don't touch me.", 你想吃我的豆腐嗎? "Would you like to touch me?"); lit. to eat xx's tofu |
| 没水准 | 沒水準 | méi shuǐzhǔn | equiv. to have no class; lit. to have no standards |
| 没家教 | 沒家教 | méi jiājiào | unmannered, not well behaved, impolite; lit. without home teaching, without a good upbringing |
| 下流 | 下流 | xiàliú | nasty; obscene; indecent; a low life; lit. downstream |
| 土 | 土 | tǔ | with no class, like a buffoon (as in, 你的衣服好土喔! 'your clothes are so low class!'); lit. earth, soil |
| 飙车 | 飆車 | biāochē | drag racing; motorcycle racing; to drive in speedily, a crazed fashion; lit. whirlwind car |
| xx族 | xx族 | xx-zú | people that do xx (as in, 上班族 "people that work", 飆車族 "people that drive too fast"); lit. xx tribe/clan/family |
| 种草莓 | 種草莓 | zhǒngcǎoméi | to kiss someone passionately, leaving a reddish mark (equiv. to give someone a hickey); lit. to plant strawberries |
| 丢脸 | 丟臉 | diūliǎn | to embarrass, to disgrace, to humiliate (as in 你在朋友的面前這樣說我真丟臉。 "The way you spoke about me in front of our friends really made me lose face."); equiv., lit. to lose face |
| 没面子 | 沒面子 | méi miànzi | to lose face (as in 你害我沒面子。 "You made me lose face.") |
| 厚脸皮 | 厚臉皮 | hòu liǎnpí | cheeky, brazen; thick skinned; willing to make daring demands (negative) |
| 嚣张 | 囂張 | xiāozhāng | brazen, shameless, arrogant |
| 酒吧 | 酒吧 | jiǔbā | a bar |
| 酒店 | 酒店 | jiǔdiàn | a hotel; restaurant; hostess bar (Taiwan only); wine shop |
| 夜店 | 夜店 | yèdiàn | a nightclub |
| 夜猫子 | 夜貓子 | yèmāozi | someone who sleeps late (equiv. a night owl); someone with a rich nightlife |
| 黄包车 | 黃包車 | huángbāochē | rickshaw / denigrating slang: a Chinese woman abroad (being promiscuous as opposed to conservative at home) |
| 恐龙妹 | 恐龍妹 | kǒnglóngmèi | ugly girl (lit. 'dinosaur girl') |
| 辣妹 | 辣妹 | làmèi | a hot girl (lit. 'spicy girl'); the Spice Girls |
| 正妹 | 正妹 | zhèngmēi | a beautiful girl, pretty girl |
| 帅哥 | 帥哥 | shuàigē | good looking dude, a hunk |
| 放电 | 放電 | fàngdiàn | to create an atmosphere of feminine attraction (of a woman); lit. 'to discharge electricity' |
| 欲火焚身 | 慾火焚身 | yùhuǒfénshēn | to be very horny; lit. 'lust fire incinerate body' |
| 泡妞 | 泡妞 | pàoniū | (try to) hook up with girls, on the prowl for women; lit ‘steep/soak girls’ |
| 把妹 | 把妹 | bǎmèi | to hunt for girls |
| 把马子 | 把馬子 | bǎmǎzi | to hunt for girls |
| 把凯子 | 把凱子 | bǎkǎizi | to hunt for rich hunks (of a woman) |
| 搭讪 | 搭訕 | dāshan | (trying to hook up by) starting a conversation (with a stranger) |
| 乱讲 | 亂講 | luànjiǎng | to speak nonsense |
| 胡烂 | 胡爛 | húlàn | give someone a load of nonsense; (as in 男生最利害的就是胡爛 "(said by a woman) Selling crap is what men do best"); lit ‘nonsense crap‘ |
| 放屁 | 放屁 | fàngpì | to speak nonsense; lit. 'to fart' |
| 废话 | 廢話 | fèihuà | to speak nonsense, to trashtalk; lit. 'to waste words' |
| 啰嗦 | 囉嗦 | luōsuo | to talk too much (as in 你很囉嗦。 "You talk too much.", 不要囉嗦了！ "Stop rambling!") |
| 哈啦 | 哈啦 | hāla | to argue, to incessantly try to convince someone (as in 你不用哈啦這麼多, 就直接認錯吧! "Stop arguing and just admit you're wrong!", 哇,你很會哈啦喔! "Wow, you really know how to argue!") |
| 闭嘴 | 閉嘴 | bìzuǐ | shut up (interjection, often said by parents) |
| 插嘴 | 插嘴 | chāzuǐ | to interrupt someone talking (as in 你不要老是插嘴。 "Stop interrupting me."); lit. to insert a mouth |
| 顶嘴 | 頂嘴 | dǐngzuǐ | to talk back, to be a wiseguy; to answer defiantly (as in 如果你再頂嘴我就修理你! "I am going to take care of you if you talk back to me again.") |
| xx个屁 / xx个头 | xx個屁 / xx個頭 | xx-gèpì / xx-gètóu | xx my ass (interjection, as in A: 這電影好浪漫喔。 B: 浪漫個屁阿! A: This movie is so romantic. B: Romantic my ass!) |
| 小弟弟 | 小弟弟 | xiǎodìdì | penis; lit. little brother |
| （小）鸡鸡 | （小）雞雞 | (xiǎo)jījī | penis; lit. chicken |
| 小鸟 | 小鳥 | xiǎoniǎo | penis; lit. small bird |
| 那话儿 | 那話兒 | nàhuàr | penis; lit. "that talk" |
| 蛋 | 蛋 | dàn | testicles, equiv. balls (as in 打架的時候要好好保護你的蛋(蛋)。 "When fighting you have protect your balls."); lit. egg |
| 奶子 | 奶子 | nǎizi | breast(s) |
| 巨乳 | 巨乳 | jùrǔ | huge breast(s) |
| 波霸 | 波霸 | bōbà | (woman with) huge breast(s) |
| 高潮 | 高潮 | gāocháo | orgasm; lit. high tide, climax |
| 做爱 | 做愛 | zuò'ài | to have sex; lit., equiv. to make love |
| 炒饭 | 炒飯 | chǎofàn | to make love; lit. to fry rice |
| 上床 | 上床 | shàngchuáng | to go to bed; to make love |
| 色狼 | 色狼 | sèláng | a man with strong sexual desires, a satyr, a sex addict; lit. appearance wolf |
| 变态 | 變態 | biàntài | a sexual pervert; lit. metamorphosis, abnormal |
| （有）外遇 | （有）外遇 | (yǒu) wàiyù | to have an affair |
| 劈腿 | 劈腿 | pītuǐ | to have an affair, to cheat on someone; lit. to split the legs |
| 一夜情 | 一夜情 | yīyèqíng | a one-night stand; lit. love for one night |
| 分手 | 分手 | fēnshǒu | to break up in a relationship; to bid farewell; lit. divide hands |
| 兵变 | 兵變 | bīngbiàn | a mutiny; a relationship that breaks up during military service; lit. military change |
| 追 | 追 | zhuī | to try to get a relationship with someone (as in 他還在追那個美妹嗎? "Is he still after that pretty girl?"); to pursue |
| 狐狸精 | 狐狸精 | húlíjīng | a woman that steals another woman's man; lit. a fox spirit |
| 母老虎 | 母老虎 | mǔlǎohǔ | a dominant wife; lit. mother tiger |
| 哇靠 | 哇靠 | wākào | exclamation: WOW! (also the title of a song by 周杰倫 Jay Zhou, a famous Taiwanese singer) |
| 干 | 幹 | gàn | to make love [vulgar]; used as a vulgar exclamation, equiv. "F**k!"; to do something, as in 幹活 "work" |
| 干掉 | 幹掉 | gàndiào | to get rid of; to kill someone; lit. to do away |
| 干你娘 | 幹你娘 | gàn nǐ niáng | to have sex with your mother, very vulgar (never used in public unless speaker wants to appear boorish) |
| 干嘛 | 幹嘛 | gànmá | exclamation, "What is it now?" or "What do you want now?", indicating irritation; why (impolite) (as in '你幹嘛花這麼多錢買這麼爛的東西? "Why would you spend so much money buying something as crappy as that?") |
| （他）妈的 | （他）媽的 | (tā)made | exclamation, "Fuck!", "Shit!", "To hell with it!", "Damn it!"; used to increase vulgarity (as in 你也他媽的夠了吧! "You are really out of line!"); lit. his mom's |
| 操 | 操 | cào | to fuck [vulgar] (from 肏 which has the same pronunciation); to exercise, drill (when pronounced cāo) |
| 操你妈的屄 | 操你媽的屄 | cāo nǐ mā de bī | to fuck your mother's cunt [very vulgar] (never use in public, or for that matter, at home) |
| 屌 | 屌 | diǎo | male reproductive organ; expression (mostly among guys) showing admiration or approval (as in 你很屌! "you're awesome!" or 超屌的! "far out!") |
| 老外 | 老外 | lǎowài | foreigner (neutral connotation) |
| 洋妞 | 洋妞 | yángniū | foreign babe, foreign chick |
| 阿都仔 | 阿都仔 | ādōuzǐ | foreigner (Taiwan only) |
| 同志 | 同志 | tóngzhì | gay or lesbian (normally "comrade" in a Communist context) |
| 小姐 | 小姐 | xiǎojiě | girl working in a hostess bar; exclamation, used alone, "Waitress!"; prostitute; young woman |
| 槟榔西施 | 檳榔西施 | bīnláng Xīshī | a young, attractive girl, usually scantily clad, hired to sell betelnuts in street stalls (西施 is a classic beauty from Chinese history/myth); lit. betelnut beauty |
| 杀价 | 殺價 | shājià | to haggle, to bargain (foreigners will always be forced to pay more, though) |
| 动手 | 動手 | dòngshǒu | to begin doing something (e.g. 他开始动手了吗？); to touch, to handle; to hit someone with hands |
| 动手脚 | 動手腳 | dòngshǒujiǎo | to sabotage something; to cheat by modifying something; to tinker with; lit. to move hands and feet |
| 灌醉 | 灌醉 | guànzuì | to fuddle, to confuse with alcohol; to get someone drunk |
| 海量 | 海量 | hǎiliàng | to be capable of holding liquor (a highly valued asset in competitive drinking, a Chinese sport) |
| 灌水 | 灌水 | guànshuǐ | to sell inferior goods that have been tampered with (business), for example, adding water to milk; to lose a game on purpose (sports) |
| 黑货 | 黑貨 | hēihuò | goods that have been tampered with, potentially hazardous to health; smuggled goods; lit. black stuff, majorly used in China but Taiwan |
| 拍马屁 | 拍馬屁 | páimǎpì | to flatter; lit. to align horse farts |
| 拍拍屁股走 | 拍拍屁股走 | pāipāi pìgu zǒu | to run away, to take off without caring for the consequences (while engaged in a relationship or project); lit. to line up the ass and go |
| 条子 | 條子 | tiáozi | a police officer; a strip (esp. of paper), a note |
| 内鬼 | 內鬼 | nèiguǐ | to steal; lit. within ghosts |
| 饭桶 | 飯桶 | fàntǒng | a scallywag, a do-nothing; a guy who lives off his girlfriend; lit. a rice container |
| 吃软饭 | 吃軟飯 | chīruǎnfàn | to live off one's girlfriend; lit. to eat soft rice |
| 毛毛的 | 毛毛的 | máomáode | creepy, suspicious, causing goosebumps (as in 他那樣瞪我, 我都覺得毛毛的。 "The way he stared at me made me feel spooked.") |
| 人情味 | 人情味 | rénqíngwèi | affection, humane, used to describe a friendly, caring atmosphere (as in 中國很有人情味。); lit. the smell of human feelings |
| 累死了 | 累死了 | lèisǐle | exhausted, worn out; lit. tired to the death |
| （老）油条 | （老）油條 | (lǎo)yóutiáo | a deceitful, "slick" person (油條, fried wheat cruller, is a long stick of deep fried batter, a staple in China) |
| 狗仔（队） | 狗仔（隊） | gǒuzǎi(duì) | paparazzi; lit. dog puppy team |
| 小强 | 小強 | xiǎoqiáng | cockroach; lit. little strong one |
| 过头 | 過頭 | guòtóu | in excess (as in 睡过头, to oversleep) |
| 赖床 | 賴床 | làichuáng | to stay in bed (esp. too long), to not get up |
| 昏昏欲睡 | 昏昏欲睡 | hūnhūnyùshuì | drowsy, sleepy |
| 拖拖拉拉 | 拖拖拉拉 | tuōtuōlālā | to be slow (esp. from reluctance); to procrastinate |
| 湿达达（的） | 溼答答（的） | shīdádá(de) | soaking wet |
| A | A | A | to steal (as in A錢, to steal money) |
| K書 | K書 | K-shū | study (as in pounding something into one's head) |
| SPP | SPP | SPP | having no class (Taiwan only, based on Hoklo dialect) |
| A片 | A片 | A-piàn | a porn movie |
| 咱们 | 咱們 | zánmen | we, us (sometimes just 咱). |

## External links

* Chinese Chat Codes - This page contains numeric codes used in chatting or pager messages similar to English acronyms like LOL (Laughing Out Loud) or BRB (Be Right Back).
* Chinese Slang Dictionary - A dictionary of Chinese slang, colloquialisms, curses, vulgarities, dialects, and street talk that Chinese characters, pinyin romanization, and an English version.