Niubi! (9 page)

Cop a feel. Literally “eat tofu.” When used between people of the same sex, it can mean “to bully,” either verbally or physically. Used mainly in southern China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, though northerners generally know the phrase as well. Relatedly, “sell tofu,” 卖豆腐
mài dòufu
(
my doe foo
), is a southern Chinese euphemism for prostitution.

 

泡妞
pàonīu
(
pow nyoo
)

One of the most common slang terms for “hitting on,” “flirting with,” or “hooking up with” girls. Literally “soak a girl.”

 

钓凯子
diào kǎizi
(
dyow kigh dz
)

To pick up men, to hit on a man. Literally “fish for men” or “fish for a boyfriend.” Originated in Taiwan and Hong Kong but known and used everywhere.

 

搭讪
dā shàn
(
dah shahn
)

To chat someone up, to start up a conversation.

 

戏果戏孙
xì guǒ xì sūn
(
she gwuh she swen
)

Beijing slang for “chasing girls and boys,” or for people who go to bars with the express intent of finding a guy or girl to hook up with. 果
Guǒ
(
gwuh
) means “fruit” but is Beijing slang for “chicks” because with a Beijing accent it’s pronounced like 果儿
guǒr
(
gwerr
). 戏果
Xì guǒ
(
she gwuh
) literally means “play with chicks” or “trick girls” and is an old Beijing expression that means flirting with or hitting on girls. 戏孙
Xì sūn
(
she swen
) literally means “trick boys” or “play with boys” and means hitting on or flirting with guys.

 

磕蜜
kē mì
(
kuh me
)

Beijing slang for “chasing” or “dating” women. Literally “hunt honey.” Not as popular as
xì guǒ
(above).

 

扎蜜
zhā mì
(
jah me
)

Beijing slang for “chasing women.” Literally “fool around [with] honey.” Not as popular as
xì guǒ
(page 56).

 

求爱
qiúài
(
chyoe aye
)

Woo (intransitive verb). Literally “plead for love.”

 

追求
zhuīqiú
(
jway chyoe
)

To pursue (transitive verb).

 

垂涎三尺
chuíxián sān chǐ
(
chway shin sahn chih
)

Literally “drool three feet.” Said of something appealing that makes you drool. Mainly used in reference to food but can also be said of a girl.

 

眉来眼去
méi lái yǎn qù
(
may lie yen chee
)

Literally “eyebrows coming and eyes going.” Describes flirtatious eye contact or just flirting in general.

 

电眼
diàn yǎn
(
dyinn yen
)

Literally “electric eyes.” A popular term among young people to describe beguiling eyes—that is, eyes that give you an electric spark.

 

过电
guò diàn
(
gwuh dyinn
) or 放电
fàng diàn
(
fahng dyinn
)

To have an electric shock (in the sense of being attracted to someone). Literally “release electricity” and “pass electricity,” respectively. Can also mean to knock the table with your glass when toasting, instead of clinking glasses.

 

来电
lái diàn
(
lie dyinn
)

Romantic spark. Literally “electricity comes.” Not having any chemistry would be 不来电
bù lái diàn
(
boo lie dyinn
), literally “electricity doesn’t come.”

 

撒娇
sǎjiāo
(
sah jow
)

To throw a fit, to act like a brat, to act coquettishly. The key thing to note in this definition is that acting coquettishly—that is, acting in a way that attracts male attention—is synonymous with acting like a brat.

 

耍单儿
shuǎ dānr
(
shwah dar
)

Literally “play alone,” meaning “single” or “unmarried,” but also Beijing slang for dressing skimpily even though it’s cold out, just to look cute.

 

漂亮
piàoliang
(
pyow lyahng
)

Pretty. Can be said of someone who’s actually pretty, like the girl next door, but is also said in response to anything impressive or amazing. This word is often used in sports—when a soccer player scores a goal, a westerner might say “Nice!” but in Chinese you often hear the sports commentators yell, “Pretty!”

 

美
mĕi
(
may
) or 美丽
mĕilì
(
may lee
)

Beautiful, good-looking. Can describe both people and things.

 

美女
mĕi nǚ
(
may nee
)

Beautiful girl, beautiful woman. Often used as a flattering term of address.

 

甜
tián
(
tyinn
)

Sweet. Can describe either food or girls. Its meaning differs from the English meaning “extremely nice and thoughtful” in that it also connotes “cutesy.” For example, girls from Taiwan are described by mainlanders as sounding very
tián
because their accents sound girlish and cute to Chinese outside of Taiwan. A sweet girl is a 甜妞
tián nīu
(
tyinn nyoo
).

 

可爱
kě’ài
(
kuh aye
)

Cute.

 

卡哇依
kǎwāyī
(
kuh why ee
)

Based on the Japanese word
kawaii
, meaning “cute” or “cutesy.” Tends to be used more often in Taiwan and other areas more strongly influenced by Japanese culture.

 

娃娃
wáwa
(
wah wah
—that should be a short
a
; rhymes with “tra-la-la”)

Cute girl. Literally “baby” or “doll.”

 

绝色
juésè
(
dreh suh
)

An extremely beautiful appearance (used as a noun). Literally “special color.” Used frequently on the Internet.

 

靓
liàng
(
lyahng
)

Pretty or handsome. Literally “light” or “glowing” or “bright.” A pretty girl is a 靓女
liàng nǚ
(
lyahng nee
), literally “glowing girl,” and a handsome young man is a 靓仔
liàng zǎi
, literally “pretty boy.” Used in southern China.

 

迷人
mírén
(
me ren
)

Fascinating, enchanting, charming, tempting (usually describing a female). Literally “attracts people.”

 

丰满
fēngmǎn
(
fung mahn
)

Voluptuous, buxom. Literally “plentiful and full.”

 

身材
shēncái
(
shen tsigh
)

Figure, body. Literally “body shape.”

 

条
tiáo
(
tyow
)

Figure, shape (usually describing women). Ordinarily
tiáo
is a word that indicates reference to anything with a long and thin shape, like a stick or a noodle.

 

性感
xìnggǎn
(
sheeng gahn
)

Sexy.

 

妖媚
yāomèi
(
yow may
)

Sexy, enchanting. Literally “evil charming.”

 

 

妖里妖气
yāo lǐ yāo qì
(
yow lee yow chee
)

Seductive and bewitching, sexy.

 

 

妖精
yāojing
(
yow jing
)

Alluring woman, siren. Literally “evil spirit.”

 

 

尖果儿
jiān guǒr
(
jinn gwurr
)

Beijing slang for a hot girl. Literally “sharp girl.”

 

 

尖孙儿
jiān sūnr
(
jinn swurr
)

Beijing slang for a hot guy. Literally “sharp guy.”

 

 

辣妹
làmèi
(
lah may
)

Southern Chinese slang for a hot girl. Literally “spicy sister.”

 

 

惹火
rěhuǒ
(
ruh hwuh
)

Sexy, hot (female). Popular among young people.

 

 

帅
shuài
(
shwhy
—think of it as “shh” and “why” mushed into one syllable)

Handsome. Literally “leader in battle.” Describes men, but like “pretty,”
piàoliang
(page 59), this can also be said in response to an impressive spectacle. You can make the sentiment stronger by saying 很帅!
hěn shuài!
(
hun shwhy
), literally “very handsome,” or 帅呆了
shuài dāi le
, literally “stunningly handsome.”

 

帅哥
shuài gē
(
shwigh guh—
shuài
rhymes with “high”)

Handsome man. Literally “handsome older brother.” Often used as a flattering form of address for any good-looking young man.

 

壮
zhuàng
(
jwong
)

Buff, strong. Beijingers pronounce it using third tone instead of fourth tone—
zhuǎng
(
jwong
).

 

酷
kù
(
coo
)

Cool (a transliteration from the English). A common way to describe a guy you find attractive, and more likely to be used by young people today than 帅
shuài
(
shwigh
), which means “handsome.”

 

棒
bàng
(
bahng
—almost like “bong” but with an
ahh
sound replacing the
o
)

Capable, strong, awesome. Often said when praising someone. If a child does a good job cleaning his or her room, you can say 很棒!
hěn bàng!
(
hun bahng
), literally “very great.” Or if a girl has a really rockin’ body, you can say, “他的身材很棒!” “
Tā de shēncái hěn bàng!
” (
tah duh shen tsigh hun bahng
): “Her body is awesome!”

 

倍儿棒
bèir bàng
(
burr bahng
)

Really great, really awesome. This is how a Beijing or Tian jin local might express 棒
bàng
(
bahng
)
.
(倍
Bèi
means “multiply” and the儿
er
(
er
) sound indicates a Beijing accent.) Thus a Beijinger complimenting a girl’s body might say, “你的身材倍儿棒!” “
Nĭ de shēncái bèir bang!
” (
nee duh shen tsigh burr bahng
): “You have a rockin’ body.”

 

养眼
yǎngyǎn
(
yahng yen
)

Eye candy, good-looking, beautiful, easy on the eyes. Literally “fits eye.”

 

喜欢
xǐhuān
(
shee hwun
)

To like.

 

爱
ài
(
aye
—rhymes with “sigh”)

To love.

 

疼
téng
(
tung
) or 疼爱
téng ài
(
tung aye
)

Love (verb). Can be used both for romantic love and for parental or familial love. Can also mean “to spoil,” as in spoiling a beloved child.
Téng
can also mean “pain,” which you shouldn’t read into too deeply, but knowing it should give extra depth to this way of saying love.

 

暗恋
ànliàn
(
ahn lyinn
)

To have a crush on.

 

谈恋爱
tánliàn’ài
(
tahn lyinn aye
)

To date, to have a relationship with. Literally “talk about love” or “talk romance.”

 

约会
yuēhuì
(
yreh hway
)

A date (noun). Came about due to Western influence.

 

AA 制
AA zhì
(
AA jih
) and AB 制
AB zhì
(
AB jih
)

Literally “AA system” and “AB system.” “Going Dutch” when you eat out is often called
AA zhì
in Chinese. However, going Dutch is a relatively recent concept for Chinese people. More recently, some people (men dining out with women in particular) are choosing to split the bill but pay a bit more, say 70 percent, and this is called
AB zhì
.

 

初恋
chūliàn
(
choo lyinn
)

First relationship, first love.

 

女朋友
nǚpéngyǒu
(
nee pung yo
)

Girlfriend. A direct translation from the English word, and like the English it usually means the girl a guy is dating but sometimes merely refers to a female friend.

 

男朋友
nánpéngyǒu
(
nahn pung yo
)

Boyfriend.

 

马子
mǎzi
(
mah dz
)