求助! - Chinese slang and colloquial language

[Guest Shi Jia]

Hi，

We are Kent, Franziska and Silvia, studying Languages and Business Administration (Chinese Studies) in the 7th semester. Within a project work for Chinese Studies we would like to deal with recent Chinese slang and colloquial/informal language. Therefore we kindly ask you for your assistance in order to create a compilation of such words and expressions. Please, write down buzzwords, invectives, vulgarisms and informal expressions and try to find an equivalent translation into English. In case this is not possible you can describe the words/expressions as well (English or Chinese). We would be pleased to receive numerous helpful suggestions.

Thank you in advance.

shi_jia1980@yahoo.com.cn

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大家好！

我们是Kent (温亘德)，Franziska (史佳)，Silvia (陆维霞)。我们学习经济外语 汉语已经是第七个学期了。 其中的汉学研究课需要写论文——关于处理研究年轻人说的流行口语与俚语。为此请你们帮我们编制词表——关于介绍俚语，粗俗话，时兴常用口语等等，而且请你们试着将其翻译为英文。不行的话，就请用英文或者中文讲讲它的意思。我们为收到很多你们的回答而高兴。

谢谢！

shi_jia1980@yahoo.com.cn

[skylee]

小強 (cockroach)

and niubi should tell you what niubi means.

[Guest fodun]

what did you mean?

[tetsuo500]

hmmm I'm just a second year student, so I'm still pretty 'text-booky'

How about 懒猪 for calling someone a 'lazy pig'. A mother might say it to her son.

I'm not sure of the character, but 'toad' can be used to describe an ugly person

你还没死了吗？ Is used, mainly by Taiwanese, as a greeting between close friends (younger people of course). There is also a common reply to this, but I don't know what it is.

Have you seen the movie 少林足球 ？ My Chinese friend told me the main actor/ comedian in that movie uses a lot of 'weird'　ｇｒａｍａｔｉｃａｌｌｙ　ｉｎｃｏｒｒｅｃｔ Chinese which catches on among young people and becomes popular. For example:　ｗｅ　ｓａｙ　你现在走什么？　Ｂｕｔ　ｔｈａｔ　ａｃｔｏｒ，　ａｓ　ｐａｒｔ　ｏｆ　ａ　ｃｏｍｅｄｙ　ｒｏｕｔｉｎｅ　ｓａｉｄ　你走什么现在？　Ａｎｄ　ｐｅｏｐｌｅ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｓａｙ　ｉｔ　ａｓ　ａ　ｊｏｋｅ，　ｏｒ　ｓｏ　Ｉ＇ｖｅ　ｈｅａｒｄ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｍｙ　ｆｒｉｅｎｄ．　Ｉ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　ｉｔ＇ｓ　ｋｉｎｄ　ｏｆ　ｆｕｎｎｙ　because it sounds like English.

[Guest Jessica]

A. 恐龙: dinosaur, which is used to describe an ugly girl

B. 青蛙: frog, which is used to describe an ugly guy

C. (小/老/臭)流氓: hooligan, which is used to joke with friends. For example, if one of my good friends said, "Are you going to stay out night with a guy?", I would probably say "流氓".

D. 3180: it refers to 王八蛋, which is a curse word. Cause "3" is "三". Then after putting one stroke "1" on "三", it becomes "王". "8" is "八". And "0" looks like an egg, "蛋".

[roddy]

3180

Never heard that one before - I presume you pronounce it san yao ba ling - not san qian yi bai ba shi . . .

Roddy

[Guest Jessica]

Exactly. However, it is not so popular as 250, er bai wu, which indicates dumb, or mad person. Btw, 傻缺, sa que, also means dumb.

Another curse word is "sha bi".

[Guest Jessica]

sorry, 傻缺 should be "sha que"

[Tsunku]

Here are a few:

东西 can be an insult, as in 你是什么东西? Literally, "what kind of thing are you?" Its implying that the person you are inslulting isn't human, he's a "thing."

"屄" is a vulgar word for a woman's parts. There are lots of variations on it. Sometimes you'll see it written as "B." A popular insult with my male friends was "傻屄," "shabi," sha meaning foolish or stupid.

"Biaozi" was a word I learned for "bitch" but I never learned how to write it.

"臭三八" is another "bitch" type word. Stinking three-eight, because 3-8 is international women's day.

"他吗的" Is the Chinese equivalent of "your momma," but its a pretty strong thing to say. Sometimes its used in the same way as f-ing is used in English, for emphasis. For example, you might say "ta ma de bang!" to mean "that's f-ing great!"

同志 was mentioned in another thread. It originally meant comrade, but now its got a double meaning of homosexual.

I'm sure there are more, but I've been out of the country for five months now so my slang is a little rusty.

[roddy]

东西 can be an insult, as in 你是什么东西?

I think I also heard 男人不是东西 - thus denying men even the status of an object . . .

同志 was mentioned in another thread. It originally meant comrade, but now its got a double meaning of homosexual.

I still haven't ever heard this usage. You occassionally hear tongzhi used ironically - the boss might come in and say 'Comrades, we have work to do' when he's about to give everyone horrible assignments - and I hear it on the buses - 那位同志让老人做吧 from the conductor - 'Hey comrade, give that old bloke a seat' (although that's only on the proletarian number 27, never on the 701, which can be as much as 3 or 4 yuan, and you get called 先生). Never to mean homosexual though.

Roddy

[Guest Jessica]

"Biaozi" was a word I learned for "bitch" but I never learned how to write it.

婊子

同志 was mentioned in another thread. It originally meant comrade, but now its got a double meaning of homosexual.

Roddy, I have heard of this usage. For example, you could find some websites are called "同志网站". They are related with homosexual.

[Tsunku]

I heard it where I was among college students. Perhaps its a generational thing? I think the younger crowd uses it for homosexuality because doing so has a slightly subversive edge to it. Their parents, who were raised calling each other 同志, probably don't find it all that funny.

[Guest Shi Jia]

Hi guys!

Thanks a lot for your support

Franziska, Kent, Silvia

[smithsgj]

Tsunku: 三八 sanba isn't used like that in Taiwan. It's more like "silly" or even "soppy". People tell me it's supposed to be directed at women but my wife says it all the time about me!

I think the origin of the expression may have come up before, not sure -- but I think it could well be a sort of truncated form of Jessica's 3180.

[Guest Anonymous]

Tsunku: 三八 sanba isn't used like that in Taiwan. It's more like "silly" or even "soppy". People tell me it's supposed to be directed at women but my wife says it all the time about me!

It was once only used to describe women but since women achieved equality, this word has also been used to describe men.

[smithsgj]

since women achieved equality

A troll?

[roddy]

Isn't May 8th International Woman's day. Or August 3rd? There's some kind of beauty parlour / comsetic surgery place that advertises on the Beijing Metro run by a woman called 史三八, I think. I wouldn't recommend it though, you can never figure out which are meant to be the before pictures and which the after ones.

I've heard 三八 used to describe clothes which are too feminine - 'Do you like that pink dress with the flowers and frills? 太三八了吧

Roddy

[Tsunku]

Yeah, its women's day (March 8th). I learned that particular slang word on women's day this year. Not directed at myself, luckily.

[wix]

同志 was mentioned in another thread. It originally meant comrade, but now its got a double meaning of homosexual.

I still haven't ever heard this usage.

In Taiwan "tongzhi" tends to mean homosexual whenever it is used. I think in China the original meaning of the word has persisted because of its links with Communist ideology.

[Guest Anonymous]

since women achieved equality[/quote'] A troll?

WTF? Did you think women were treated as equals throughout history? Women in the U.S. didn't even get equal rights until earlier this century. I am all for equality among the two genders, I was merely trying to explain to you why your wife calls you sanba, a term historically only used to describe women.