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I know that "機車" is motorcycle and it is also used as a slang word, but I was unsure of its meaning. Thus, i checked this page, and I was confused by its ambiguity when translated to English, as listed below:

  • indecisive
  • temperamental
  • fickle/flaky/capricious
  • stubborn
  • demanding
  • jerk

Is jerk the English equivalent of "機車"? If not, is there an English equivalent? What was the origin of this slang meaning? I cannot find any correlation between "motorcycle" and any of the meanings listed...

Thanks in advance!

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  • 机车 iciba [铁道] locomotive； engine ； haulage motor ； loco 小马词典：locomotive; train engine car; scooter (Taiwan); hard to get along with (Taiwan slang) iciba：摩托车，motorcycle
    – user6065
    Apr 30, 2015 at 4:43
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    Yeah that doesn't even begin to answer the question.....
    – Mou某 ♦
    Apr 30, 2015 at 12:48
  • 该评论的目的为提醒大家普通话里＂机车＂是什么意思以及motorcycle在普通话里叫做什么。另外好象值得注意的是问题所提出＂机车＂的特殊意义似乎仅限于台湾。根据小马词典甚至在台湾俚语里＂机车＂是表示＂小型摩托车＂的意思而不是 ＂摩托车＂。users are supposed to avoid answering questions in comments 用户应该避免用评论回答问题
    – user6065
    Apr 30, 2015 at 15:12
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    @S.Rhee I guess user3306356 meant that your comment is not helpful at all to my question, but I do find the meaning "hard to get along with" helpful. Perhaps the format is confusing and lowers the readability.
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 30, 2015 at 16:16

1 Answer 1

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It's a Taiwanese slang.

機車：在台灣有時會用來形容人難以相處，作為一種罵人用語。由來為台灣閩南人中，部分人士對於令人不滿 的人會以粗俗詞語「欠姦」（閩南話）來形容，甚至以「膣屄」（閩南話，發音類似「機掰」）取代「欠姦」， 但由於感到不雅或故意作為玩笑，起於民國80年代的學生族群，有一些人「機……」第一個音發出後，第二個 音改接「車」而成為「機車」。

ref : wikipedia of 機車

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  • Didn't expect this to be on wikipedia...Thank you!
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 30, 2015 at 15:03

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