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.