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Sometimes curse words and insults are the kinds of expressions that a language newbie would first learn.
And these words are also a part of the country’s culture, what they insult is either what they detest, or what they mostly care about.WARNING: Some of the words in this article are highly offensive, which bugs people to even look at. The more you read on, the nastier they get.
Please note that we don’t encourage the use of any such language.
The purpose of this list is recognition: register varies by region, relationship and situation. A word used jokingly between close friends can still be insulting elsewhere. For ordinary interactions, start with polite expressions such as 你好 and 谢谢.
Chinese Insults Related to Numbers
二（èr）
Despite the number two, this character could also mean “different” or “disloyal”. 二is commonly used to express “stupid/foolish” in various dialects.
And compared to other words on our list, this could even be described as “cute”. If you hear “你真二” from your friend, don’t get angry yet as this could translate to “You are so silly”. With a special tone, it might even be flirting.二椅子 (èr yǐzi) is a derogatory regional slur about gender or sexuality. It should not be used as a neutral description; the asserted eunuch origin is uncertain.
三八（sān bā）
三八 is a derogatory colloquial term, often directed at women, for someone regarded as meddlesome or gossipy. Its use varies regionally. The date March 8 is International Women’s Day, but the article’s claimed Qing-dynasty origin should not be treated as established fact.
However, since this also matches the date of International Women’s Day—March the 8th, it has been used to insult a woman for her gender. It is also used to describe meddlers and gossipers, applying to both men and women.
二百五（èr bǎi wǔ）
The full form should be 二百五十 to mean “two hundred and fifty”, which is used to express that a person is stupid, ignorant and stubborn.
Some say that it originated from a story of the Warring States Period (战国时代). 二五仔 means “informer/traitor” in Cantonese slang; it is not simply another Mandarin word for a fool. The characters can be read èr wǔ zǎi in Mandarin, but that is not the original Cantonese pronunciation.
Chinese Curses With Specific Meanings
The Very Common “Eggs”
Several common insults contain 蛋 (dàn, egg). Their literal parts do not always explain their modern meaning. An often-repeated story connects 王八 with 忘八端, but this should not be presented as a proven etymology.
The “eight virtues” story is one proposed explanation; recognizing the current register of the insult is more useful than relying on an uncertain origin story.
via Pixabay
王八蛋 （wáng bā dàn）
王八蛋 is a strong insult, roughly “bastard” or “scoundrel”. 王八 can refer to a turtle, but historical interpretations and literal wordplay do not determine every modern use.
笨蛋（bèn dàn）、傻蛋（shǎ dàn）、蠢蛋（chǔn dàn）
These “stupid”, “silly” and “dumb” eggs are used to call someone a fool, an idiot, or a moron—which are far less offensive.
As though 傻瓜 (shǎ guā) “silly melon” is also used to express someone is stupid, it could even be a pet name between lovers.
坏蛋（huài dàn）
“bad egg” is another common word that is not too offensive, meaning “bad person; villain”, or used to refer somebody is a “bad person” in any situation. Could also be used as a pet name or flirting.
混蛋（hún dàn）
混蛋 (húndàn) is an insult meaning “bastard”, “jerk” or “scoundrel”. It is not a normal expression for someone who mixes up issues, and its literal components should not be used to infer a reference to mixed ancestry.
滚蛋（gǔn dàn）
“Rolling egg”, means “piss off” or “go away”, which is slightly less offensive than the “F*ck off” in English. But it’s still a rude way of telling people to leave you alone.
A similar expression is 滚开 (gǔn kāi) “get lost”, a dialect version is 玩蛋去 (wán dàn qù) “Go play with your egg and leave me alone”, and there’s also the shortcut version of 滚 “get away”.
Insulting One’s Mother and Family
This is the “insult-what-you-love-and-care-about-so-that-I-could-express-my-anger-and-piss-you-off” section, which is gonna get really mean.
I sincerely hope you never need to use or hear them.
你妈/你妈的（nǐ mā de）
Literally translates to “your mother’s”, a similar English expression would be “damn it.”
When used in conversations it definitely means to insult, but online it can also be an angry exclamation, but it remains vulgar. An extension would be 去你妈的 (qù nǐ mā de) “go to your mother.” 你 (you) could be replaced with 他 (he/him), and妈 (mother) could be replaced with 大爷 (elder uncle).
狗娘养的（gǒu niáng yǎng de）
Literally translates to “born and raised by (养的) a dog (狗) mother (娘)”, meaning “son of a bitch”. Highly offensive and intolerable at any time. However, it is interesting that the two cultures share some similarities in this sense.
你丫的/你丫挺的（nǐ yā tǐng de）
你丫的 / 你丫挺的 are associated with Beijing speech and are insulting forms of address. Some close friends may use them jokingly; that does not make them neutral particles or appropriate language for unfamiliar people.
But now this is used as a modal particle (语气助词), sometimes with close friends, sometimes referring to people that they don’t like.
祖宗十八代（zǔ zōng shí bā dài）
This means “your ancestors to the eighteenth generation” which is often used in connection with another dirty word that we will later come to.
Sex-Related Curses and Insults
This is where I need to warn you again about very dirty and mean words. Consider stopping now or “skim and scan”.
As you can see, even the Chinese people think they are too offensive and found replacement characters as shown after the slash (/).
靠（kào）；尻（kāo）
尻 (kāo) means buttocks; 靠 (kào) can be a vulgar exclamation. They have different pronunciations. In slang, 我靠 can express surprise, such as 我靠 indicates “f*cking awesome!” or “holy sh*t!”.
屄/逼（bī）
The genitalia of a female creature, which has been used quite “creatively”. 牛逼 (NB) “cow vagina” means “F*cking awesome!”. 二逼 (2B) means “extremely stupid”. 傻逼means “idiot”. 你妈逼 “your mother’s vaginal” is also highly offensive, which is comparable to “f*ck you”.
What’s interesting is that on the internet, people would use 我去年买了个表 (I bought a watch last year) to express “feeling unbalanced and unfair”, which originated from 我去你妈了个逼 (I screwed your mother), as the beginning letters of their Pinyin (拼音) is both WQNMLGB.
屌/吊（diǎo）
屌 refers to the penis and is vulgar. 吊 is a common substitute spelling in online slang. Now used to describe “awesome” or “amazing”. A relevant word is 屌丝 (diǎo sī) “male pubic hair”, which means “loser”.
肏/操（cào）
If you look at the original word, the upper part was 入 (enter), and what’s underneath was 肉 (meat), which vividly means “f*ck”. People would use it to express surprise, such as 我操/卧槽/我艹 (I f*ck) or even the cyberspeak 我屮艸芔茻, all meaning “What the f*ck!”.
What’s more offensive would be 操你妈 “F*ck your mother” or 操你祖宗十八代 “F*ck your ancestors to the eighteenth generation”. Characters with the same meaning are 干 (gàn) or 日 (rì).
贱人（jiàn rén）/贱货（jiàn huò）
Meaning “slut” or “bitch”, both expressions include the word 贱 “cheap”, referring to an easy woman or a cheap person. 人 means “person” and 货 means “goods”, clearly the latter is more offensive. A similar word is 婊子 (biǎo zǐ) “bitch/whore”.
小姐（xiǎo jiě）
小姐 (xiǎojiě) means “Miss” or “young lady” in many contexts, including some polite forms of address. In parts of mainland China it can also imply a sex worker, especially when used alone to address an unfamiliar woman. It is not universally synonymous with “prostitute”. For service staff, 服务员 is usually clearer; 女士 is a polite title where appropriate. 鸡 and 鸭子 can be derogatory slang for sex workers and should not be treated as neutral job names.
via Pixabay
Meanings and offensiveness vary across communities. 他妈的 and 靠 can function as vulgar exclamations, but they can also be used aggressively toward others. Avoid treating either as automatically harmless or relying on an unsupported ranking of how frequently people use them.
