Chinese slang dictionaries
pretzellogic
December 07, 2009, 07:44 AM posted in General Discussionthere are a few of them, but the observation is that some of them assume that you are already familiar with the mandarin terms, and just need to know what the definition is. But in any event.....
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chinese+slang
xiao_liang
April 14, 2010, 03:33 PMI'm slightly in love with that wikipedia article. It may well get me dumped, but it'll be worth it!
pretzellogic
December 07, 2009, 10:02 AMwell, what kills me is that xiǎohuàidàn in wikipedia is listed as a profanity, yet I hear mothers calling their kids, "xiǎohuàidàn" all the time. I did think it just meant bad egg, but more like calling your kid "you little scoundrel" or something.
changye
December 07, 2009, 05:40 PMGuys, be careful not to get bogged down in the morass of Chinese slangs. Chinese is notorious well known for abundant nasty slang words.
pretzellogic
December 07, 2009, 07:03 PMChangye, i'll take your word for it, but I know English has plenty of nasty, nasty slang going for it as well. Maybe Japanese is nice and pure though......
changye
December 08, 2009, 07:10 AMHi pretzellogic
Of course, Japanese also has nasty slang words, but the Japanese slang vocab is just "poor" compared to Chinese one. The most frequently used slang would be "bakayaro" (you idiot!), and you can often hear it in anti-Japan propaganda movies/dramas made in the PRC.
Actually, we rarely use curse words, or more exactly speaking, we seldom quarrel in public place. Believe it or not, I've never seen people quarreling/fighting , for example, on the street, at school and in the office so far in Japan, where I lived for more than forty years.
Probably the thing is a little different in large cities such as Osaka and Tokyo, though. And naturally young Japanese generations are not as polite as us, old guys, hehe. Anyway, as far as I know, there is no slang that means "xxxx your mother", since we don't have much chance to use such word.
simonpettersson
December 07, 2009, 08:36 AMHmm. Later in the same article, you get "hùndàn (混蛋 / simplified Chinese: 浑蛋; traditional Chinese: 渾蛋) = prick". Seems to be the same characters (or is it? Two variants there) but different pronounciation. What's going on here? Can someone elucidate?
changye
December 08, 2009, 07:37 AMHi simon
Japanese people love drinking and easily get drunk, hehe. How about Swedeish? Japanese hate quarelling, but it's not necessarily a good thing. In general, Japanese are poor debator. To make matters worse, we are not skill in speaking loud, both figuratively and physically, which is one of the reasons why my country can't play an important role in international society.
simonpettersson
December 08, 2009, 07:49 AMIt's like looking into a mirror. Let's just say that the world's third largest brand of spirits, Absolut Vodka, is Swedish. Considering our small size, that should speak of our drinking habits. :)
changye
December 08, 2009, 08:15 AMMy comrade!
pretzellogic
December 08, 2009, 09:39 AMOy vey. or maybe I should say, Aiyo. English in the States has every bit of the slang that Chinese has, plus we go the extra mile of learning to insult every ethnic group in the US. Some ethnic groups get more than their fair share, but in general, no one is spared ridicule or intensely derogatory names. Its this way in middle school and high school as well, where allegiances can and are formed along racial and ethnic lines.
I suppose that's probably the same way with Japanese and Swedish, but Japan and Sweden probably aren't doing this to their own populations as much. Or maybe they do. I am aware that Sweden seems to have some longstanding "exchanges" with Norway, and Japan has some "exchanges" with Korea and China. You guys would certainly know better than I.
simonpettersson
December 08, 2009, 07:19 AMIt's sort of the same in Sweden. The swear word vocabulary is quite limited, and most swear words are religious in nature, i.e. "Satan!" or "Devils!". Needless to say, in the world's most secular country (I think we beat Japan, but I haven't seen recent figures), they're not terribly offensive.
Also, you don't quarrel in public in Sweden, either. Maybe Sweden and Japan have a lot in common? Minimalist design trends, no public quarreling, secularist, famous for its pornography ... We're practically the same country!
simonpettersson
December 07, 2009, 08:28 AMThat is one thorough Wikipedia article. Very interesting. I especially like the (admittedly few) references to how old the expressions are, some dating back to the Yuan or Song dynasties.
Here's a favourite:
I actually heard that one as late as yesterday in a wuxia TV series (Mischievous Princess / My Bratty Princess / 刁蛮公主), so it appears it's not terribly strong.