Girlish expressions in colloquial Chinese and English

[BeijingSlacker]

This can be subjective and depend on the which culture you are in, but I guess there are expressions most native speakers would agree to be girlish. By girlish (colloquial) expressions, I mean expressions that are used MORE OFTEN by girls (not "only by girls" ).

One guy I used to tutor once said something is “辣辣的”instead of "辣". He also used other expression that could be girlish or babyish. After I pointed it out, he told me he learned that from his friend's gf. Also, A Canadian folk who is in the ESL business once told me that most ESL teachers are female and this can be an disadvantage because male students sometimes can naturally pick up girlish expressions without knowing it.

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Chinese（Personal Opinion only）:

－－Using repetition of a single character usually risks being girlish.( There are exceptions of course)

i.e. 狗狗 （Instead of 狗）

包包 （Instead of 包－bag，purse）

－－ Using 好(very) as an adv.

i.e. 那个书包好漂亮啊。 我好难过。我好想你啊。好好玩

I will add to this list.

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English (well, I will try my best)

-- "Oh My God."

Guys definitely say this too, but not as much as girls I would guess. (I know a girlish guy who is girlish in Chinese(his native language) and whats funny is that when he speaks English, he says " OH MY GOD" all the time, which sounds like a girl to me sometimes.

-- "So (=very)" as an adj.

i.e. He is sooooooooooooooooo good.

[zackzhou]

稀饭,粉稀饭,8错

I found these expressions posted by girls on some Chinese forums. Not only in ESL,but most commentators in children's programs are female

[roddy]

The vast majority of the people I worked with in my first three years in China were young women (tough life, but someones got to do it) and I had to rid myself of a habit of adding 呀 at the end of my sentences. I’ve also seen an argument between a taxi-driver and a foreigner who walked off and shouted ‘你真讨厌’ from a distance – I’d guess he learnt that from his girlfriend, but at least he didn’t stamp his foot and pout.

Roddy

[BeijingSlacker]

稀饭,粉稀饭,8错

I found these expressions posted by girls on some Chinese forums.

Thats what I call "trash language".

The vast majority of the people I worked with in my first three years in China were young women (tough life, but someones got to do it) and I had to rid myself of a habit of adding 呀 at the end of my sentences.

Nice observation. You just remind me of this “呀”“啦”“哦” thing.

I’ve also seen an argument between a taxi-driver and a foreigner who walked off and shouted ‘你真讨厌’ from a distance – I’d guess he learnt that from his girlfriend, but at least he didn’t stamp his foot and pout

That must have sounded very funny. I wonder if the taxi driver burst into laugter.

[benotnobody]

The vast majority of the people I worked with in my first three years in China were young women (tough life, but someones got to do it) and I had to rid myself of a habit of adding 呀 at the end of my sentences.

Does that mean that expressions like 哎呀 are considered "girlish"?

[Guest Yau]

It seems that saying "I" can be arrogant in chinese, and '人家' (literately means 'other people' but true meaning is "I" ) is adopted. It's also used for some embarassing conversation, e.g a girl may say 人家就是稀罕你!! (it means: I LOVE YOU~~!)

[sunyata]

Hmm, how about 你想得美 ！ Sounds quite girlish to me...

[waxwing]

It seems that saying "I" can be arrogant in chinese' date=' and '人家' (literately means 'other people' but true meaning is "I" ) is adopted.

[/quote']

How intriguing.

Is this the equivalent of 'one' in English? Actually that is starting to fall out of usage, so you might not know about it, e.g.:

'One feels rather uncomfortable here'. This is the kind of thing a member of the British royal family might say. It's a very cold, distant way of speaking, avoiding referring to yourself directly.

But 'one' can be used more normally, in formal writing, to refer to a person in general:

On entering the city, one gets the impression that it is very old <- it means anyone who enters the city gets that impression.

[Guest Yau]

'One feels rather uncomfortable here'. This is the kind of thing a member of the British royal family might say. It's a very cold, distant way of speaking, avoiding referring to yourself directly.

you got the point!

人家 (other person) is similar to the pronoun 'one' in english. Both are distant but 人家 isn't cold.

It seems that this kind of distance pronouns are common among asians, including chinese, vietnamese, thais and japanese. Sometimes the pronoun is skipped for different reasons, such as to avoid being impolite and arrogant or embarassement.

In southern china, it can be impolite if you say 你 'you' to elderly or senior relatives, so the best way is to replace 'you' with 叔叔(uncle), 大嬸(aunt), 嫂嫂 (wife of elder "brother"[not necessarily a relative]) depending on the one who talk with.

e.g. 爺爺想喝茶嗎? [literally: Grandfather want drink tea? // real meaning: do you you want to have tea, grandpa? ]

大嫂近來身體好嗎? [literally: big 'brother's wife' recently body good? // how are you? ]

'You' is avoided to show respect to elders.

Also, to some kids and girls (pretend to be cute), they also skip the pronoun 'I'. They probably feel arrogant to tell what he or she feels.

E.g. If her name is Mary, she may say

"瑪莉不想吃葯!" (literally: Mary not want eat medicine // I (mary) don't want to take these drugs!)

If his name is Ming (a kid), he may say

"明明好想去迪士尼公園!' (lit: Ming Ming very want go Disney Park // I (ming) really want to go to Disney! )

These expressions are actually less common in china, comparing with vietnamese and thais (i guess). So you don't have to learn all of them if you only stay in china.

[xuechengfeng]

Yeah, the only time a male says "Oh my God" in English is typically when an event is extremely shocking, i.e. unexpected death.

[berylchan]

It seems that saying "I" can be arrogant in chinese, and '人家' (literately means 'other people' but true meaning is "I" ) is adopted. It's also used for some embarassing conversation, e.g a girl may say 人家就是稀罕你!! (it means: I LOVE YOU~~!)

Not all girls like to use "人家", at least I don't like. That sounds too "嗲“... (sorry, I don't know how to say this word in English...)

[Quest]

Not all girls like to use "人家", at least I don't like. That sounds too "嗲“... (sorry, I don't know how to say this word in English...)

seductive?

In Cantonese, 人哋 also has the same effect as 人家 in mandarin.

人哋就係中意你！

[Guest Yau]

i don't think 嗲 (sounds like "de") is seductive. It's a mild derogatory to describe anyone who pretends to be cute, lovely by behaving like a girl or a kid. "你咪咁嗲啦!" (Don't be too "de")

You can also use it as a verb.

佢嗲我都無用! (You "de" me no use // it's no use "de" me)

[Quest]

then that's sissy... and it was what I wanted to say at first, but if a girl is 嗲声嗲气, she most likely is trying to seduce you.

and Yau, I am sure berylchan knows how to use 嗲 in Chinese, what she wants to know is the equivalent English word.

[berylchan]

In Cantonese, 人哋 also has the same effect as 人家 in mandarin.

人哋就係中意你！

But I don't think they are the same. In Cantonese, "人哋" is common for boys too, but in Mandarin if boys say "人家", that would sound really girlish...

and Yau, I am sure berylchan knows how to use 嗲 in Chinese, what she wants to know is the equivalent English word

Thanks Quest, you are right, I am seeking for the English word for “嗲 (die 3)” .

[chris.]

i say 'oh my god' alot...i am a guy, alot of guys say it. Guys say it different to girls. Also guys tend to use 'what the !@#!?' alot as well.

Girls like to say 'oh my god'...like to say 'like' 'like the other day like bla bla bla' 'oh my god you are so mean!'(just to me )

[BeijingSlacker]

I am sure berylchan knows how to use 嗲 in Chinese, what she wants to know is the equivalent English word.

saccharine ??

It seems that saying "I" can be arrogant in chinese, and '人家' (literately means 'other people' but true meaning is "I" ) is adopted. It's also used for some embarassing conversation, e.g a girl may say 人家就是稀罕你!! (it means: I LOVE YOU~~!)

I am afraid I have to disagree with you on this. Firstly, using '人家' to refer to oneself is very rarely used in daily convo. Like other people mentioned, its way too 嗲。 Secondly, 人家 can be referring other people too. For example,你又不认识人家， 人家为什么非要帮你。

In southern china, it can be impolite if you say 你 'you' to elderly or senior relatives, so the best way is to replace 'you' with 叔叔(uncle), 大嬸(aunt), 嫂嫂 (wife of elder "brother"[not necessarily a relative]) depending on the one who talk with.

您 would be a better solution??

Hmm, how about 你想得美 ！ Sounds quite girlish to me...

It does to me too. However, "你丫想的美" doesn't sound girlish at all.

[BeijingSlacker]

i say 'oh my god' alot...i am a guy, alot of guys say it. Guys say it different to girls. Also guys tend to use 'what the !@#!?' alot as well.

Girls like to say 'oh my god'...like to say 'like' 'like the other day like bla bla bla' 'oh my god you are so mean!'(just to me )

lol, I use " what the h***/f***" a lot too.

What about the word " totally" in phrases/sentences like " I totally understand" "This is totally wrong"

[xuechengfeng]

"totally" isn't typically used except by drama queens and airheads.

using the word "like" in a sentence also is a sign of girlishness to me, as well as a lack of being able to communicate... i cannot stand when people go,

So yesterday, I like went to the store, then like I saw like um, John, and we like got ice cream at like Dairy Queen.

[Quest]

If you want to learn "how blonde girls talk", I recommend the Wayans brothers' White Chicks.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/white_chicks/