By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: What are your favorite Chinese words & phrases?
sui bian = whatever (kind of a life motto for me)
si ji dou = spiced green beans (literally; beans for all seasons)
fang pi / gou pi = fart / dog fart (how to call "bullshit" here)
let's hear some more
11 years 37 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
My favorite word is "漂亮" (Piàoliang - 'beautiful'). I don't know why... it's just fun to say.
My favorite phrase is probably "非常有意思" (Fēicháng yǒuyìsi - 'very interesting') I'm not sure why I like this one so much... probably because it has all 5 tones in it.
马马虎虎 (just so-so)
五花八门 (all kinds of everything)
王克 (no meaning but would make an interesting Chinese name for an English guy)
二百五 (you have to laugh at how this has become offensive to Chinese)
不三不四 (simularly this)
markferrer:
I need some explanation here.
"5 flowers - 8 doors" = "all kinds of everything"?
"205" & "no 3 no 4" = "something offensive"?
What could all these numbers possibly mean?
Jnusb416:
It's not 205, it's 250, and it's like saying someone is an idiot. A friend explained it to me, something about a half of a half of 1,000, but I don't remember in detail.
markferrer:
Thanks Jnusb,
That helps clarify one of them.
Now I'm just looking to figure out "not 3 not 4"
and better understand "5 flowers - 8 doors"
Kaiwen:
OK, let me try:
erbaiwu indeed refers to a person that is not very smart or an idiot.
wuhuabamen is a very strange idiom that means a great variety of something (or lots of different kinds). Chinese is full of strange idioms that can be traced back to a story in ancient times. Though I have no idea how it came into being, I am sure there will be a story somewhere.
busanbusi is not an idiom. It is a saying meaning to be not up to much. If applied to a person, it seems to be quite insulting suggesting that the person in question is a piece of trash.
Gaohao:
Well I got the wang ke reference, and being an Englishman myself i'll take it in the spirit of good humour in which it was surely meant, rather than as a suggestion for all Englishmen.
Speaking of insulting names in Chinese I heard that the Chinese equivalent of the word bitch (in terms of offensiveness) is 'san ba' ('three eight', sorry, dunno how to access Chinese script on this computer), which is a little odd considering national women's day is called 'san ba jie'.
:
@Gaohao: about 'San ba':
I forget where I heard this, but the insult actually comes from "International Women's Day" , celebrated March 8th (三月八日 in Chinese).
Because that day is a Feminist holiday, [sarcasm] and all Feminists are bitches (right?) [/sarcasm], if you're a thinking, strong-willed or otherwise disagreeable woman, you obviously must be a Feminist/Bitch, and so the number is applied .
[EDIT] Got some funky stuff going on with the chinese text up there... don't know why, or how to fix it-- sorry about that.
some more;
man zou = take it easy / have a safe trip (literally, walk slowly)
dan chow fan = egg fried rice (knowing to say this helped me in my early days here)
yu mao qiu = badmitton (literally feather-ball) I think that's a better name for it
wu yao yi bai pijiu - I want a glass of beer
ting bu dong - I don't understand
bu shui - I don't speak (Mandarin)
da fei jie -
Xpat.John:
I just ran across an interesting bit of trivia that I thought I would share. Did you know that spittoons were originally invented in China over 500 years ago?
markferrer:
speaking of trivia,
Did you know Chinese used to eat with knives and forks before they invented chopsticks?
It was common to invite your worst enemies over to dinner which would often result in someone getting stabbed at the table so they made the switch.
'Diao ni ma', which quite literally means (excuse me) 'fuck your mother' is not exactly my favourite phrase, but it has probably given me the most entertainment, the reason being that I used to live in Liuzhou and would hear it there constantly, whether by an old old lady at a bus-stop or by one brother to another, it always made me laugh and think, "Ahhhh, that's so sweet."
a few more;
mei shi = no problem / don't worry about it
mei ban fa = I'm stumped / we're screwed
cha bu duo = give or take / good enough
ren shan ren hai
literally people mountain people sea
like our a sea of people
when to use: October holiday
such as going to Huangshan (Yellow Mtn) on October 1
你好!
88
the ''uh, eh" particle that chinese peeps often say when responding. it rubs off you know.
你好!
88
the ''uh, eh" particle that chinese peeps often say when responding. it rubs off you know.
ni ya fengla ma? - are you fucking crazy
ye merier- dude
galli- amazing
千里之行,始于足下!
非淡泊无以明志,非宁静无以致远!
三人行,必有我师焉!则其善者而从之,其不善者而改之!
千里之堤,溃于蚁穴!