To cause trouble.
滚蛋
gǔndàn
(
gwen dahn
)
Get lost! Literally “roll away, egg” or “go away, egg.”
坏蛋
huàidàn
(
hwigh dahn
)
Bad person. Literally “bad egg.”
糊涂蛋
hútúdàn
(
who too dahn
)
Confused/clueless person. Literally “confused egg.”
穷光蛋
qíongguāngdàn
(
chyohng gwahng dahn
)
An insulting term for a person without money. Literally “poor and have-nothing egg.”
混蛋
hùndàn
(
hwen dahn
)
Bastard. Literally “slacker egg.” 混
Hùn
(
hwen
) means “to loaf,” “to wander around all day doing nothing,” or “to be up to no good.” Relatedly, 混混
hùnhùn
(
hwen hwen
) or 混子
hùnzǐ
(
hwen dz
) is used for a layabout, deadbeat, slacker, or any idle person up to no good.
龟孙子
guī sūnzi
(
gway swen dz
) or 龟儿子
guī érzi
(
gway er dz
)
Bastard. Literally “turtle grandson.” An insult that has lost, like “egg” insults, any obscene connotation.
蠢货
chǔnhuò
(
chwen hwuh
)
Dummy, moron. Literally “silly good.”
菜
cài
(
tsigh
)
Literally “vegetable.” Can be an insulting term meaning “ugly” and may also be less insultingly used to describe someone who is bad at doing something. For example, 你电脑真菜
nǐ diànnǎo zhēn cài
(
nee dyinn now jen tsigh
) means “You suck at using the computer.” Similarly, 菜了
cài le
(
tsigh luh
) is “to fail.”
木
mù
(
moo
)
Stupid, slow, insensitive. Literally “wooden.”
脑子进水
nǎozi jìn shuǐ
(
now dz jean shway—
zi
is like saying a very short
bzz
, but with a
d
sound instead of the
b
)
Blockhead, dummy. Literally means “water in the brain.”
脑子养鱼
nǎozi yǎng yú
(
now dz yahng yee
)
Blockhead, dummy. Literally “fish feed in the brain” or “fish being raised in [one’s] brain.” A variant on “water in the brain” (above), more popular among younger people.
废人
fèirén
(
fay ren
)
Useless person.
窝囊废
wōnangfèi
(
wuh nahng fay
)
Loser. Literally “good-for-nothing useless.”
软脚蟹
ruǎnjiǎoxiè
(
rwun jow shih
)
Wuss, wussy, chicken. Literally “soft-legged crab.” Originated in Suzhou, where crab legs are a popular food and strong legs with lots of meat are, obviously, preferred over soft legs with no meat. Mostly used in the South. Northerners do not use the term but do understand its meaning when they hear it.
吃素的
chīsùde
(
chih soo duh
)
Wuss, pushover, sucker. Literally “vegetarian,” referring to Buddhist monks because they are kind and merciful (and don’t eat meat). Usually used defensively, as in 我可不是吃素的
wǒ kě bushì chīsùde
(
wuh kuh boo shih chih soo duh
), “I’m not a wuss,” or 你以为我是吃素的?
nǐ yǐwéi wǒ shì chīsùde
? (
nee ee way wuh shih chih soo duh
): “Do you think I’m a wuss?”
神经病
shénjīngbìng
(
shen jing bing
)
Crazy, lunatic. Calling someone this connotes something like “What the hell is wrong with you?” Literally “mental illness.”
有病
yǒubìng
(
yo bing
)
Crazy. A slightly more common and mild variation on
shénjīngbìng
(above). It’s like saying, “What? No way—you’re crazy!” Literally “have a disease.”
猪
zhū
(
joo
) or 猪头
zhūtóu
(
joo toe
)
Moron. Literally “pig” and “pighead,” respectively.
半残废
bàn cánfèi
(
bahn tsahn fay
)
Literally “half-handicapped” or “half cripple.” Jokingly said of a man who is shorter than his woman. 残废
Cánfèi
(
tsahn fay
) means “cripple” or “handicapped” and is a mocking term for a short man. Both terms can be real insults but, depending on who’s saying them and how, can also be affectionate jests.
脑被驴踢了
nǎo bèi lü’ tī le
(
now bay lee tee luh
)
Kicked in the head by a donkey. Popular among young people, used to call someone stupid.
痞子
pǐzi
(
pee dz
)
A mild insult along the lines of “ruffian” or “riffraff.” The literal meaning alludes to medical conditions of the liver, spleen, or abdomen, suggesting that
pǐzi
are like a disease on society.
没起子
méi qǐzi
(
may chee dz
)
Useless, stupid, a good-for-nothing. Literally “no ambition.”
弱智
ruòzhì
(
rwuh jih
)
Idiotic, stupid. Literally “mentally enfeebled.”
玩儿闹
wánr nào
(
warr now
)
Troublemaker, ruffian. Also means “to fool around” or “to run wild.” Beijing slang only. Literally “play and quarrel” or “play and loudly stir up.”
冤大头
yuān dàtóu
(
yren dah toe
)
Fool. Literally “wrong bighead.”
浑球儿
hún qíur
(
hwen chyurr
)
Good-for-nothing, rascal. Literally “unclear ball.” 浑
hun
means “unclear” or “dirty,” as in 浑水
hún shuǐ
(
hwen shway
), or “dirty water.” Typically employed by parents to reprimand their kids. Used in northern China.
脑残
nǎocán
(
now tsahn
)
Means “mental retardation” or “a mental disability” and is a popular insult among young people. One usage is 你脑残吗?
nǐ nǎocán ma?
(
nee now tsahn ma
), meaning “Are you retarded?” or “Is there something wrong with your head?”
脑有屎
nǎo yǒu shǐ
(
now yo shih
) or 脑子里有屎
nǎozi lǐ yǒu shǐ
(
now dz lee yo shih
)
Shit in the brain. Popular among young people.
The supernatural
瘟神
wēn shén
(
when shen
)
A mild insult along the lines of “troublemaker.” Literally “god of plague,” referring to Chinese mythology. Considered old-fashioned now in much of China, but still used quite a bit in Sichuan Province and some southern areas.
鬼
guǐ
(
gway
)
Means “devil” or “ghost.” Not typically used as an insult in of itself, but often added onto adjectives to turn them into pejoratives. For example, if you think someone is selfish, or 小气
xiǎo qì
(
shyaow chee
), you might call them a 小气鬼
xiǎo qì guǐ
(
shyaow chee gway
), literally “selfish devil.”
见鬼
jiànguǐ
(
jyinn gway
)
Literally “see a ghost.” Can be exclaimed alone to mean something like “Damn it!” or “Crap!” or “Oh shit!” But it is not profane like some of those English equivalents. Can also be used as an intensifier, as in 你见鬼去吧!
nǐ jiànguǐ qù ba!
(
nee jinn gway chee bah
), which literally translates as “you see a ghost leave” but means “Go to hell!” or “Fuck off!” or “Get the hell out of my face!”
Rural insults
土
tǔ
(
too
)
A pejorative with a broad range of meanings. It literally means “dirt” or “earth” and, most broadly, is used to describe an unsophisticated or uncultured person, much like “redneck” or “yokel” or “hick.” Someone who spits on the floor while indoors, doesn’t line up to buy things, or who can’t figure out how to use the ticket-vending machine in the subway, might be called
tǔ
.
Tǔ
can also be a generic, somewhat all-purpose put-down, like “dork.” More recently,
tǔ
refers to someone out of touch with aspects of modern society—for example, who doesn’t know how to use the Internet.
土包子
tǔ bāozi
(
too baow dz
)
Someone who is
tǔ
. (
Tǔ
is an adjective while
tǔ bāozi
is a noun.) One explanation for this term is that 包子
bāozi
(a steamed, breadlike bun with meat or vegetable filling) is a common food in poor, rural areas, and so
tǔ bāozi
indicates that the person comes from the countryside.
老冒儿
lǎo màor
(
laow murr
—the first syllable rhymes with “cow,” and the second rhymes with “burr”)
Northern Chinese slang for
tǔ
. Literally “old stupid” (though it can be said of anyone, not just old people). 冒
Mào
is slang for “stupid” or “inexperienced” but is seldom used by itself anymore.
土得掉渣儿
tǔ de diào zhār
(
to duh dyow jar
)
Ignorant, hick, unrefined. Literally “bumpkin shedding dirt,” suggesting that someone is so
tǔ
that dirt is falling off them. Used in northeast China.
农民
nóngmín
(
nohng meen
—
nóng
has a long
o
sound, like in “bone”)
Literally means “farmer” or “peasant” (unlike in English, “peasant” is a neutral term in Chinese) but when said disdainfully can carry the same “country bumpkin” connotations as
tǔ
(above). However,
nóngmín
is not used nearly as often as
tǔ
.
柴禾妞儿
chái he niūr
(
chai huh nyurr
)
An insulting term for a country girl, used in Beijing only.
没素质
méi sùzhì
(
may soo jih
)
Literally “no quality.” Said, like
tǔ
, of someone who acts in uncivilized ways and means he or she has no upbringing, manners, or class.
不讲文明
bù jiǎng wénmíng
(
boo jyahng wen meeng
)
Same meaning as
méi sùzhì
(above) but less commonly used. Literally “not speaking civilization.”
Extremely rude
烂人
làn rén
(
lahn ren
)
Bad person. Literally “rotten person.”
缩头乌龟
suō tóu wūguī
(
swuh toe ooh gway
)
Coward. Literally “a turtle with its head in its shell.”
臭
chòu
(
choe
)
Stupid, bad, disappointing, inferior. Literally means “smelly” and is often added in front of insults to intensify them. So, for example, “smelly bitch” in Chinese, 臭婊子
chòu biǎozi
(
choe byow dz
), is, as in English, much stronger than just “bitch.”
丫头片子
yātóu piànzǐ
(
yah toe pyinn dz
)
A Beijing insult for a young girl who’s ignorant and inexperienced. 丫头
Yātóu
means “servant girl.” Literally “servant girl piece.”
丑八怪
chǒubāguài
(
choe bah gwie
)
An insulting term for an extremely ugly person. Literally “ugly all-around weird.”
泼妇
pōfù
(
pwuh foo
)
Shrew, bitch. An insulting term for a mean, crazy woman. Literally “spill woman.”
三八
sānbā
(
sahn bah
)
In Taiwan this just means “silly” and is said of both males and females, but on the mainland it is a very strong insult for a woman, similar to “bitch” or “slut.” (Though sometimes it just means “gossipy.”) Literally, it means “three eight,” for which there are two explanations. One is that during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) foreigners were supposedly only allowed to circulate on the eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth of each month, and thus foreigners were called, somewhat scornfully,
sānbā
for the three eights. Another explanation is that
sānbā
refers to International Women’s Day, which is on March 8. In contexts when it means “bitch” or “slut,” it’s common to amp up the strength of
sānbā
as an insult by saying 死三八
sǐ sānbā
(
sih sahn bah
), literally “dead bitch,” or 臭三八
chòu sānbā
(
choe sahn bah
), literally “stinking bitch.”
黄脸婆
huángliǎnpó
(
hwahng lyinn pwuh
)
Slightly derogatory term for a middle-aged married woman. Literally “yellow-faced woman,” meaning that she is old and ugly.
白眼狼
báiyǎn láng
(
buy yen lahng
—the last syllable is similar to “long” but with an
ah
sound replacing the
o
)
Ingrate, a ruthless and treacherous person. Literally “white-eyed wolf.” Both “white eyes” and “wolf ” are insults in Chinese.
你不是人
nǐ bú shì rén
(
nee boo shih ren
)
You’re worthless; you’re inhuman. Literally, “You are not a person.”
你不是东西
nǐ bú shì dōngxi
(
nee boo shih dohng she
)
You’re worthless; you’re less than human. Literally, “You’re not a thing” or “You’re not anything.”