Chinese Slang

Since we had five and a half hours of language class today, our teacher took pity and did a lesson on Chinese slang for part of the time. It was interesting to see the words she presented. We were horrified at some of the slang…until we realized we have analogous terms in English. Then there were words/phrases for whose literal translations we have idioms, but they differ in meaning. Finally there is online slang that is based on numbers. Short lesson below for your enjoyment.

-All languages have mean slang…
-Qingwang- literally “frog,” used to describe an ugly boy. “Ew, look at Chuckie..what a frog!”
-Konglong- literally “dinosaur,” used for an ugly girl. This could also fit into the second category (see below)
-Zhang de anchuan- literally “makes you feel safe.” Used to describe a plain looking person in a nice way. Think, “He has a GREAT personality,” when being told about a blind date.
-Yiduo xianhua chazai niufen shang. Literally, the manure pile makes the flower more beautiful. Idiom for describing an ugly man married to a beautiful woman.
-This isn’t mean, just cool: Wo shi da jiang you. Literally, I am buying soy sauce. Equivalent to, “Leave me out of it” or “I have no opinion.” Buying soy sauce is one of the most basic household tasks, so when someone asks, “What do you think about this controversial issue?” you can say, “Oh, just buying the soy sauce minding my business over here.” Cool, right?

Confusingly non-equivalent slang:
-Kongque- peacock- means overconfident in oneself, not proud as it does in English
-jutou- pighead- clumsy or stupid, not stubborn

Nifty numerical slang:
-886- pronounced babaliu, sounds like baibaile, means byebye
-9494-pronounced jiusi jiusi, sounds like jiu shi, means I agree
-584-pronounced wubasi, sounds like wo fashi, means I promise
-520-pronounce wuerling, sounds like wo ai ni, means I love you