In some ways, 'Mandarin Chinese
slang terms and
insults' resemble their English counterparts. For example, there are many slang words and insults involving sex. While many insults and expletives involve someone's mother, one may also insult someone by insulting their ancestors. Other Mandarin insults accuse people of not being human. Another difference is that Mandarin words for excrement or feces are much less commonly used in slang and insults, and there are few counterparts to
Christian or
Islamic
blasphemy (most Chinese people do not
practice religion with the same level of zeal as Christians or Muslims). Finally, some terms can be written in different ways, because the Chinese language has so many
homonyms, because uncommon slang characters were not supported by earlier
character encodings, and also because Internet users sometimes use alternate characters to avoid censorship. Sometimes this means naive speakers use expressions that are much coarser than they realize.
Sex
Penis
As in English, many Chinese slang terms involve the genitalia or other sexual terms. For penis:
★ 'jībā' (,
IM abbreviation: G8) = cock (used as early as the
Yuan Dynasty)
★ 'jījī' (, IM: GG) = roughly equivalent of "dingy" as it is the childish version of the above.
★ 'xiǎo dìdì' () = roughly equivalent of "wee-wee" (lit. "little younger brother")
★ 'diǎo' ( or substituted by ) = dick
★ 'kuà xià wù' (跨下物) = roughly equivalent of "the package" (literary means "thing under crotch")
★ 'yīnjīng' () = penis (scientific)
Vagina
There appears to be more words for vagina, which is more common as an insult than the ones for penis:
★ 'bī' (屄, 逼, 比, IM: B) = cunt
★ 'èrbī' (二屄) = fuck-up (lit. "double vagina"; general insult)
★ 'shǎbī' (傻屄) = stupid person (lit. "stupid cunt")
★ 'sāobī' () = bitch (lit. "lewd cunt")
★ 'chòubī' (臭屄) = stinking cunt
★ 'lànbī' () = rotten cunt
★ 'yīndào' () = vagina (scientific)
Whores
In addition to the above expressions used as insults directed against women, other insults involve intimating they are prostitutes:
★ 'chòubiǎozi' (臭婊子) = stinking whore
★ 'jiànhuò' () = slut (lit. "cheap commodity")
★ 'mài dòufu' (; literally "selling tofu") is a euphemism for prostitution.
★ 'sāohuò' () = slut (lit. "lewd commodity")
★ 'xiǎojiě' (小姐) = still means "Miss" in many contexts but now also connotes prostitute to many young women, as it suggests expressions like 'zuò xiǎojiě' (做小姐) or 'sānpéi xiǎojiě' (三陪小姐) , which refers to
bargirls who may also be
prostitutes
★ 'xiǎolǎopó' (小老婆) = mistress (lit. "little wife" or "little old woman")
Breasts
★ 'mīmī' (咪咪; literally cat's purring "meow meow") is a euphemism for breast.
★ 'mántóu' (; literally "steamed bun") also refers to a woman's breasts; as ''
mantou'' is typical of northern Chinese cuisine this term is used primarily in northern China.
★ 'fúshòu' (福寿; literally "happy long life")
★ 'nǎinǎi' (奶奶)
Masturbation
Male
masturbation, at least, has several vulgar expressions, in addition to two formal/scientific ones that refer to both male and female masturbation ('shǒuyín' 手淫 and 'zìwèi' 自慰):
★ 'dăshǒuqiāng' () = male masturbation (lit. "firing a handgun")
★ 'dǎfēijī' () = male masturbation (lit. "hitting an airplane") A term which originated from the Cantonese language.
★ 'lǚguǎn'/'lǚguǎnr' (捋管/捋管儿) = male masturbation (lit. "stroke the pipe")
★ 'wǔdǎyī' (五打一) = male masturbation (lit. "five beating one")
Insults
As in English, a vulgar word for the sexual act is used in insults and expletives:
★ 'cào' (肏/操) = fuck (the variant character was in use as early as the
Ming dynasty in the novel ''
Jin Ping Mei''). is usually used as a substitute for in print or on the computer, because 肏 is often not available for typesetting or input.
★ 'cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài' (肏你祖宗十八代) = fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation
★ 'wǒ kào' (我) = fuck! or fuckin' awesome! or holy shit! (Originally from Taiwan, this expression has spread to the mainland, where it is generally not considered to be vulgar.)
Mother
Insulting someone's mother is also common:
★ 'tā māde' (, IM: TMD) = damn (lit. "his mother's"; in the 1920's the famous writer
Lu Xun joked that this should be China's national curse word)
★ 'tā māde niǎo' () = goddamned (lit. "his mother's dick"; 鸟/鳥 literally is "bird", but used here as a euphemism for 'diǎo'; ; "penis")
★ 'qù nǐ nǎinaide' (去你奶奶的) = fuck off (lit. "go to your grandma")
★ 'qù nǐ māde' () = fuck off (lit. "go to your mom")
★ 'qù nǐde' (去你的) = fuck off/get lost (milder)
★ 'nǐmāde bī' () = your mother's cunt
★ 'cào nǐ niáng' (肏你娘) / 'cào nǐ mā' () = fuck your mother
★ 'gàn nǐ mā' () / 'gàn nǐ lǎo mǔ' () = fuck your mother; kill your mother
===
Illegitimacy===
Insults include implying that the interlocutor's mother or even grandmother was unfaithful. "Turtle" is commonly explained to be an insult because a turtle does not know its father.
★ 'wángbā' (王八) / 'wàngbā' (忘八) = cuckold; this was an insult as early as the
Song dynasty; some argue that the 忘八 meant "forgetting the eight
virtues"
★ 'wángbādàn' (王八蛋,
informal simplified: 忘八旦) / 'wàngbāgāozi' (忘八羔子) = bastard (lit. "turtle egg")
★ 'guī sūnzi' () / 'guī érzi' () = bastard (lit. "turtle grandson")
★ 'dài lǜmàozi' () = to be a cuckold (lit. "wear a green hat," supposedly because male brothel workers in the
Tang dynasty had to wear green hats)
★ 'zázhǒng' () = bastard (lit. "crossbreed"; originally racist, it is now sometimes racist and sometimes not)
Buttocks
While there are vulgar expressions in English referring to the buttocks or rectum, there are no real equivalents in Mandarin. 'Pìgu yǎn' (屁股眼), the expression for rectum, is not vulgar, but it occurs in various curses involving an
imperforate anus:
★ 'jiào nǐ shēng háizi méi pìgu yǎn' () = literally, "May your child be born with an imperforate anus"; sometimes 'méi pìgu yǎn' () is used as an epithet similar to "damned"
Sluts
As in the West, highly sexual women have been feared:
★ 'húli jīng' (狐狸精) = bitch (overly seductive woman; lit. "fox spirit")
★ 'sānbā' (三八) = airhead, braggart, slut (lit. "three eight"). Used to insult women. One derivation claims that at one point in the
Qing dynasty, foreigners were only permitted to circulate on the eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth of each month, and the Chinese deprecated these aliens by calling them 三八, but others claim 三八 refers to March 8th:
International Women's Day.
★ 'gōng gòng qì chē' (公共汽车) = slut (lit. "public bus") used for a women who sleeps around, as in "everyone has had a ride"
Positive connotations
Occasionally, slang words with a negative connotation are turned around and used positively:
★ 'wǒ cào' (我肏) = holy fuck (lit. "I fuck")
★ 'niúbī' (/牛) = fucking awesome (literally "cow cunt"; possibly influenced by the expression chuī niú pí; 牛, which means "to brag"). This phrase is sometimes also written as B, , , or .
★ 'diǎo' (屌) / 'niǎo' () = cock; this was an insult as long ago as the
Jin Dynasty. Now it sometimes also means "fucking cool" or "fucking outrageous", thanks in large part to the pop star
Jay Chou.
Mixed-up
Other insults include the word 'hùn' (), which means "mixed-up", or 'hùn' (), which means "muddy":
★ 'hùnzhàng' () = son of a bitch
★ 'hùndàn' (混蛋 / ) = son of a bitch
★ 'hūndàn' (昏蛋) = son of a bitch
★ 'hùnqiú' (混球) = son of a bitch
Eggs
Perhaps due to the influence of 'wángbādàn' (王八蛋), 'dàn' (蛋; "egg") is used in a number of other insults in addition to 'hùndàn' (混蛋):
★ 'bèndàn' (笨蛋) = dummy, fool (lit. "dumb egg")
★ 'dǎodàn' (倒蛋 / ) = "to cause trouble"
★ 'gǔndàn' () = get lost!
★ 'huàidàn' () = bad egg
★ 'hútú dàn' (糊涂蛋) = confused/clueless person
★ 'qíongguāng dàn' () = a poor/penniless person
Melons
For some reason, 'guā' (; melon or gourd) is also used in insults:
★ 'shǎguā' (傻瓜; also 'shǎzi', 傻子) = dummy, fool (in use as early as the
Yuan dynasty)
★ 'dàiguā' (呆瓜; also 'dàizi', 呆子) = dummy, fool
Useless
'Fèi' (, ; "useless") appears in a number of insults:
★ 'wōnang fèi' () = loser
★ 'fèirén' () = useless person
★ 'fèihuà' () = useless words (similar to the ridicule form of "no shit")
★ 'liúmáng' () = scoundrel or pervert (the word originally meant
vagrant); often used by women to insult men who make aggressive advances
Face
Because shame (or
face) is important in Chinese culture, insulting someone as "shameless" is much stronger than in English:
★ 'bùyàoliǎn' () = shameless, lit. "doesn't want face"
Inhuman
Other insults accuse people of lacking qualities expected of a human being:
★ 'chùsheng' (畜生) = animal (these characters are also used for Japanese "chikushō", which may mean "beast," but is also used as an expletive, like "damn!")
★ 'nǐ bú shì rén' (你不是人) = you're not human (lit.: "you are not a person")
★ 'nǐ shì shénme dōngxi' () = you're less than human (compares the level of a person to that of an object)
★ 'nǐ búshì dōngxi' () = you're less than human (implies less worth than an object)
★ 'bùyàoliǎn de dōngxī' () = you're shameless and less than human (lit.: "you are a thing that has no shame")
Death
'Sǐ' (; "dead", or more precisely, "damn(ed)") is used in a number of insults:
★ 'sǐ guǐ' (死鬼) = bastard
★ 'sǐ sānbā' (死三八) / 'chòu sānbā' (臭三八) = bitch
★ 'sǐ bùyàoliǎn' () = shameless (lit.: "[you] died without shame")
Shit
Originally the various Chinese words for "excrement" were less commonly used as expletives, but that is changing. Perhaps because farting results in something that is useless even for fertilizer: "'fàng pì'" (放屁; lit. "to fart") is an expletive in Chinese:
★ 'qù chī dàbiàn' (去吃大便) Eat shit! (大便 is neither an expletive nor does it have the same effect as 'shit' in English.)
★ 'fàng pì' (放屁) = bullshit, nonsense (literally "to fart"; used as an expletive as early as the
Yuan dynasty. Taiwanese just simply say "pi" or "ge pi" when referring to "bullshit" (as in lies), as "fang pi" is taken literally "to fart".)
★ 'pìhuà' () = nonsense
Animals
Dogs
The fact that many insults are prefaced with the Chinese word for dog attest to the animal's low status:
★ 'gǒuzǎizi' (狗崽子/狗仔子) = son of a dog
★ 'gǒu pì' (狗屁) = bullshit, nonsense (lit. "dog fart"; in use as early as 1750 in the
Qing dynasty novel ''Ru Lin Wai Shi'' (
The Scholars)
★ 'gǒu pì bù tōng' (狗屁不通) = incoherent, nonsensical
★ 'gǒu niáng yǎng de' () = son of a bitch (lit. "raised by a dog mother")
★ 'gǒurìde' (狗日的) = son of a bitch (from
Liu Heng's story "Dogshit Food", lit. "dog fuck)
★ 'gǒushǐ duī' (狗屎堆) = a person who behaves badly (lit. "a pile of dog excrement"); 'gǒushǐ' (狗屎), or "dog excrement," was used to describe people of low moral character as early as the
Song dynasty. Due to Western influence, as well as the similar sound, this has become a synonym for
bullshit in some circles.
★ 'gǒuzázhǒng' () = literally "mongrel dog," a variation on 'zázhǒng' (), above.
★ 'zǒugǒu' (走狗) = often translated into English as "running dog", it means an unprincipled person who helps or flatters other, more powerful and often evil people; in use in this sense since the Qing dynasty
★ 'gǒutuǐzi' (狗腿子) / 'gǒutuǐ' (狗腿) = variant of 'zǒugǒu' (走狗) (lit. "running dog" or dog legs)
Rabbits
In at least one case, rabbit is part of an insult:
★ 'xiǎotùzǎizi' (小兔崽子) = son of a rabbit (quite ironically, this insult is often used by parents to insult their children)
Divinity
One of the few insults connected to the supernatural is not used to damn but to compare the insulted person to a disliked god:
★ 'wēnshén' (瘟神) = troublemaker (literally "plague god")
Miscellaneous
Some expressions are harder to explain:
★ 'èrbǎiwǔ' (二百五) = stupid person (see
250)
Homosexuality
While there are various circumlocutions in Chinese for
homosexual, like '
duǎnxiù' (), 'yútáo' (), and 'bōli' (), these are less common as insults. 'Tóngzhì' (同志) (lit. "comrade") was recently adopted in Hong Kong and Taiwan to mean homosexual, and is frequently used on the mainland. After the success of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, 'duǎnbèi' (断背), literally meaning 'brokeback', has become popular.
See also
★
Standard Mandarin
★
Singapore sexual slang
★
Diu (Cantonese)
★
Puk Kai
References
★
教育部顧問室人文社會科學教育改進計劃 E世代的情意教育─網路軟體研發
★
Oedipus Lex: Some Thoughts on Swear Words and the Incest Taboo in China and the West
★
论"他妈的！"
★
Cool Jay
★
國語辭典
★ 汉语大词典
★
Chinese sex words, obscene language, curses and slang
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