While many taboo words and expletives involve insulting someone's mother, it is also common to show contempt by scorning another person's 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 or Islamic blasphemy.
Sex
Penis
As in English, many Mandarin Chinese slang terms involve the genitalia or other sexual terms. For penis:
*jībā = cock
*jījī = roughly equivalent of "dingy" as it is the childish version of the above.
*xiǎo dìdì = roughly equivalent of "wee-wee"
*kuà xià wù = roughly equivalent of "the package"
*yīnjīng = penis
*diǎo = dick
Vagina
There appear to be more words for vagina, which is more common as an insult than the ones for penis:
*bī = cunt
*èrbī = fuck-up
*shǎbī = stupid person : SB
*sāobī = bitch
*chòubī = stinking cunt
*lànbī = rotten cunt
*yīndào = vagina
*zhuāngbī = poser
Prostitution
In addition to the above expressions used as insults directed against women, other insults involve insinuating that they are prostitutes:
*chòubiǎozi = stinking whore
*mài dòufu is a euphemism for prostitution.
*xiǎojiě = still means "Miss" in many contexts but now also connotes prostitute to many young women, as it suggests expressions like zuò xiǎojiě or sānpéi xiǎojiě , which refers to bargirls who may also be
*xiǎolǎopó = mistress
Breasts
*mīmī is a euphemism for breast.
*mántóu also refers to a woman's breasts; as ''mantou'' is typical of northern Chinese cuisine this term is used primarily in northern China.
*fúshòu
*nǎinǎi = boobies
*zar
*gege
*bàorǔ = big tits, likely reborrowing from Japanese.
Masturbation
Male masturbation, at least, has several vulgar expressions, in addition to two formal/scientific ones that refer to both male and female masturbation :
*d?shǒuqiāng = male masturbation
*dǎfēijī = male masturbation A term which originated from the Cantonese language.
*lǚguǎn/lǚguǎnr = male masturbation
*wǔdǎyī = male masturbation
Sexual intercourse
*cào = to fuck
*gàn = to do = to fuck
*rì " = to fuck. The meaning is obvious and in normal contexts 入 is pronounced rù. But when it is used as a coarse expression, the "u" is elided. See 國語辤典,vol. 3, p.3257.
*chǎofàn = to have sex
Insults
As in English, a vulgar word for the sexual act is used in insults and expletives:
*cào = fuck . is usually erroneously used as a substitute for in print or on the computer, because 肏 was until recently often not available for typesetting or input.
*cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài = fuck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation, the 肏 should have been , which meant "confiscate all the propety of one."
Insulting someone's mother is also common:
*cào nǐ māde = fuck your mother's
*tā māde = his mother's
*tā mā bāzi( his mother's clitoris. Lu Xun differentiates this expression from the previous one. This one can be said in admiration, whereas "tā māde" is just abusive. See his essay, "On 'His mother's'" .
*tā māde niǎo = goddamn it
*qù nǐ nǎinaide = your mom
*qù nǐ māde = your mom
*qù nǐde = fuck off/shut the fuck up
*nǐmāde bī = your mother's cunt
*cào nǐ niáng / cào nǐ mā = fuck your mom
*gàn nǐ mā / gàn nǐ lǎo mǔ = fuck your mom
*gàn nǐ niáng = fuck 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 / wàngbā = cuckold; this was an insult as early as the Song dynasty; some argue that the meant "forgetting the eight virtues"
*wángbādàn / wàngbāgāozi = bastard
*guī sūnzi / guī érzi = bastard
*dài lǜmàozi = to be a cuckold
*zázhǒng = bastard
Buttocks
While there are vulgar expressions in English referring to the buttocks or rectum, there are no real equivalents in Mandarin. Pìgu yǎn or pìyǎnr , 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"
*wǒ kào = fuck! or fuckin' awesome! or holy shit!
Sluts
As in the West, highly sexual women have been stigmatized:
* = bitch
*sānbā = airhead, braggart, slut . 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 , but others claim refers to March 8th: International Women's Day.
*gōng gòng qì chē = slut 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 = holy fuck
*niúbī = fucking awesome . This phrase is sometimes also written as B, , , or .
*diǎo / niǎo = cock; this was an insult as long ago as the . 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 = prick
*hùndàn = prick
*hūndàn = prick
*hùnqiú = prick
Eggs
Perhaps due to the influence of wángbādàn , dàn is used in a number of other insults in addition to hùndàn :
*bèndàn = dummy, fool
*dǎodàn = "to cause trouble"
*gǔndàn = get lost!
*huàidàn = bad egg
*hútú dàn = confused/clueless person
*qíongguāng dàn = a poor/penniless person
Melons
The word guā is also used in insults:
*shǎguā = dummy, fool
*dāiguā = dummy, fool
Useless
Fèi appears in a number of insults:
*wōnang fèi = loser
*fèirén = useless person
*fèihuà = useless words
*liúmáng = scoundrel or pervert ; often used by women to insult men who make aggressive advances
Face
Because shame is important in Chinese culture, insulting someone as "shameless" is much stronger than in English:
*bùyàoliǎn = shameless, lit. "doesn't want face"
Girlish
*niángniangqiāng is a pejorative used to describe Chinese males who are extremely effeminate in their speaking style. It is related to the term sājiào , but is predominantly said of males who exhibit a rather "girlish" air of indecisiveness and immaturity. Adherents of both tend to lengthen sentence-final particles while maintaining a higher-pitched intonation all throughout. The usage of the tilde as an Internet meme reflects the popularization of this style of speaking, which is often perceived by Westerners as being cute or seductive.
Inhuman
Other insults accuse people of lacking qualities expected of a human being:
*chùsheng = animal
*nǐ bú shì rén = you're not human
*nǐ shì shénme dōngxi = you're less than human, literally: What kind of object are you?
*nǐ búshì dōngxi = you're less than human
*bùyàoliǎn de dōngxī = you're shameless and less than human
*jiànhuò = lit. "despicable thing"
*sāohuò = lit. "lewd thing"
Death
Sǐ is used in a number of insults:
*sǐ guǐ = bastard
*sǐ sānbā / chòu sānbā = bitch
*sǐ bùyàoliǎn = shameless
*qu sǐ = go die
Shit
Originally the various Mandarin 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" is an expletive in Mandarin:
*qù chī dàbiàn Eat shit!
*fàng pì = bullshit, nonsense, lie
*pìhuà = bullshit, nonsense
*The words "" , "" and "" , all meaning feces , can be used in compound words and sentences in a profane manner.
*mǐ tián gòng - A play on the writing of "" , referring to excretion
Animals
Dogs
The fact that many insults are prefaced with the Mandarin Chinese word for dog attest to the animal's low status:
*gǒuzǎizi = son of a dog
*gǒu pì = bullshit, nonsense (lit. "dog fart"; in use as early as 1750 in the Qing Dynasty novel ''Ru Lin Wai Shi''
*gǒu pì bù tōng = incoherent, nonsensical
*gǒu niáng yǎng de = son of a bitch
*gǒurìde = son of a bitch
*gǒushǐ duī = a person who behaves badly ; gǒushǐ , 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 = 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 / gǒutuǐ = variant of zǒugǒu
Rabbits
In at least one case, rabbit is part of an insult:
*xiǎotùzǎizi = son of a rabbit
Horse
*mǎzi = a derogatory word for girlfriend.
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 = troublemaker
Miscellaneous
Some expressions are harder to explain:
*èrbǎiwǔ = stupid person/idiot
*shūdāizi, roughly equivalent to "nerd". It is used to portray studious person as lacking hands-on experience or social skills. Unlike "nerd", shūdāizi is rarely used in the context of hobbies.
Region specific
Many locations within China have their own local slang, which is scarcely used elsewhere.
*gàn nǐ xiǎo BK de - Local slang from Tianjin, meaning "go fuck your 'thing'", where "BK" refers to male genitalia. However, when insulting females, "马B" is used instead.
*xiǎo yàng le ba - Originating from Southern China. Said upon someone's misfortunes, similar to "haha" or "suck that".
*shén me niǎo - From the northeastern Heilongjiang, although also used in the South. Used similar to "what the fuck?"
Racism
As in any language, Chinese has specific terms and racial slurs for different ethnicities, governments and backgrounds.
Against westerners
*yáng guǐzi "Foreign devil", a slur for White people
*guǐlǎo Borrowed from Cantonese "Gweilo", "ghost" or "ghost guy", a slur for white people
Against Japanese
*xiǎo Rìběn — Literally "little Japan". This term is so common that it has very little impact left . The term can be used to refer to either Japan or individual Japanese. "小", or the word "little", is usually construed as "puny", "lowly" or "small country", but not "spunky".
*日本鬼子 — Literally "Japanese devils". This is used mostly in the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War, when Japan invaded and occupied large areas of China. This is the title of .
*倭 — This was an ancient name for Japan, but was also adopted by the Japanese. Today, its usage in Chinese is usually intended to give a negative connotation . The character is said to also mean "''dwarf''", although that meaning was not apparent when the name was first used. See Wa .
*倭寇 — Originally referred to Japanese pirates and armed sea merchants who raided the Chinese coastline during the Ming Dynasty . The term was adopted during the Second Sino-Japanese War to refer to invading Japanese forces, . The word is today sometimes used to refer to all Japanese people in extremely negative contexts.
*日本狗 — Literally "Japanese dogs". The word is used to refer to all Japanese people in extremely negative contexts.
*大腳盆族 - Ethnic slur towards Japanese used prodominantly by Northern Chinese, mainly those from the city of Tianjin. Literally "Big Feet Bowl Race".
*黃軍 - Literally "Yellow Soldier", used during World War II to represent due to the colour of the uniform. Today, it is used negatively against all Japanese. Since the stereotype of Japanese soldiers are commonly portrayed in war-related TV series in China as short men, with a toothbrush moustache , 黃軍 is also often used to pull jokes on Chinese people with these characteristics, and thus "appear like" Japanese soldiers.
*自慰队 - A pun on the homophone "自卫队" , the definition of 慰 used is "to comfort". This phrase is used to refer to Japanese being , as "自慰队" means "Self-comforting Forces", referring to masturbation.
Against Koreans
*高丽棒子 - Derogatory term used against all ethnic Koreans. 高丽 refers to Ancient Korea , while 棒子 means ''"club"'' or ''"corncob"'', referring to how Koreans would fit into trousers of the Ancient Koryo design. Sometimes 韓棒子 is also used.
*死棒子 - Literally "dead club" or "dead corncob"; refer to 高丽棒子 above.
*二鬼子 - During World War II, 二鬼子 referred to hanjian and in the Imperial Japanese Army, as the Japanese were known as "鬼子" ''''. 二鬼子 literally means ''"second devils"''. Today, 二鬼子 is used against all ethnic Koreans. This is also due to Koreans and Japanese being similar in appearance to Japanese, and many Chinese believing that Koreans are copying Japanese culture.
Other
*印度阿三 - Ethnic slur against .
*台巴子 - Slur originating from the city of Shanghai, 台巴子 refers to Taiwanese, especially advocates of Taiwan independence.
*黑鬼子 - "Literally "Black devil", Anti-African slur similar to nigger.
Homosexuality
While there are various circumlocutions in Mandarin Chinese for , like , yútáo , and bōlí , these are less common as insults. Tóngzhì was recently adopted in Hong Kong and Taiwan to mean homosexual, and is frequently used on the mainland. Since the success of Ang Lee's ''Brokeback Mountain'', duànbèi has also become popular.
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