14
votes
Accepted
What does "你吃了吗?" mean?
What does 你吃了吗？mean?
「你吃了嗎？」
此句的原義是確認“吃的行為”。譬如：
「吃藥時間過了。你吃了嗎？」
「這個蛋糕很好吃。你吃了嗎？」
"Have you eaten?"
The original meaning of this sentence is to confirm the action of eating. For example,
"The time to ...
- 5,896
13
votes
Accepted
Why say 少说两句 to break up a fight?
「兩」 here is basically a synonym of 「幾」 (several). 「少說兩句」 means 「少說幾句」, that is, the argument arose out of speaking too much (more likely to drag up disagreements and past grievances), so speaking less ...
- 23k
12
votes
Accepted
What does “tm” mean?
TM (also written TMD) is short for 他/她媽的, literally ('his/her mother's'), equivalent to English motherf*****g.
See the Wiktionary entry for more details.
- 23k
9
votes
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What does j8傻逼 mean?
According to chinaSMACK, j8 is equivalent to 'penis' or any of its vulgar forms:
(rude language hidden behind spoiler, hover over or click to show)
- 444
8
votes
What action does “打” in “打酱油” refer to?
打 in 打酱油 doesn't intrinsically mean "buy". In the last century, soy sauce was not sold in bottles as today. It was produced by the merchant himself, so you need to go to the shop and ladle it into ...
- 3,111
7
votes
Identify Mandarin word - "kiāng"
As can be gleaned from the fact that it is usually represented in Zhuyin, ㄎㄧㄤ is a bit of slang used primarily in Taiwan, especially among young people.
ㄎ with ㄧ (or k + i in Pinyin) is not a ...
- 6,786
7
votes
What does 饭圈类 ("rice-ring kind") indicate in 生产这些饭圈类产品?
Searching for 饭圈类 in Baidu, I stumbled upon a Baidu Zhidao artcle, which gives an explanation. The second answer is simpler:
饭圈类似粉丝会，大家有共同喜欢的东西，组成了一个圈子。
[My translation:] 饭圈 is similar to "fan ...
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6
votes
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What does 金山 mean?
Native speaker here. It could be a typo made unconsciously, or made deliberately to show disrespect to 安倍晋三. Anyway, it's just a typo, with nothing to do with the meaning you found about the word 金山.
...
- 142
6
votes
In Sichuanese does 日本人 mean “fuck me”?
I am a native Sichuanese and have been living in Sichuan for decades.
I personally have never heard of anyone using this phrase and don't think I ever will.
Instead of a everyday phrase, this is more ...
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6
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What does j8傻逼 mean?
J8 == ji 8 == ji ba == 鸡巴(penis).
In this case, the usage of j 8 is like 他妈，but the severity of the rudeness/vulgarity has been largely enhanced. 跟他妈傻逼一样 denotes the same meaning, but less vulgar.
...
- 24k
6
votes
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What 蛋 is referring to in "完蛋了"
The following text was copied from 重編國語辭典修訂本 website (http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=W00000002040), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3....
- 1,877
6
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Explain the concepts 沙雕 and 沙雕图
In addition to meanings explained by other answers, 傻屌 are much more offensive and vulgar than沙雕.
沙雕 is generally used humourously to describe weird or stupid but funny behaviours or lame jokes, as ...
- 847
6
votes
Are there loanwords from Portuguese used in Macau Cantonese?
Mostly food? The below examples are from Words.hk:
马介休
loanword from "bacalhau" in Portuguese; Portuguese-style salted fish
馬介休撻
maa5 gaai3 jau1 taat1
bacalhau tart
亞東
「亞東」喺澳門叫法, ...
Mou某♦
- 36k
6
votes
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What is the meaning of 会 in 你们太会了 and the sentence's connotation?
会 denotes the sense of good at; skillful;etc.. In Chinese grammar, 会 is a verb here.
the celebrity is saying: 你们太会玩了 or 你们太会搞了. In English, it could be something like you guys are good at making ...
- 24k
5
votes
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The meaning of 牛气 and 很牛
Most likely, 牛氣 and 很牛 came from a slang '牛逼' (cow's genital)
Cow's genitals are huge compare to human's. Calling something 牛逼 means it is unbelievably impressive or out of worldly awesome.
牛氣 (...
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5
votes
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Etymology of 'go dutch'
《懶蟲簡明英漢詞典》
go Dutch
verb
各人付自己的帳
Usually, we simply say 各付各的 or 各出各的 in both TC and SC.
Others:
各付各的帳
各付一半帳
各付一半賬
各付帳
各人付自己的帳
各人自付錢
各人自己付錢
各自付錢
各自付帳
...
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5
votes
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What is the meaning behind 川皇, which is some kind of slang for "Donald Trump"?
Chinese people use *皇 to describe the dominant person in some areas, 詹皇(LeBron James), but this kind of name can either be adoring or irony, each individual would interpret it subjectively.
So you ...
- 6,285
5
votes
Why say 少说两句 to break up a fight?
@dROOOze has already pretty much answered this, I just want to share a reference:
Grand Ricci
少说两句
shǎo shuō liǎng jù
Ne parlez pas tant!
Google Translate renders this into English as:
Don't talk ...
Mou某♦
- 36k
5
votes
Why say 少说两句 to break up a fight?
少 - less
说 - say
两句 - literally means two sentences - actually means several sentences
少说两句 - say several sentences less (than what you are going to say)
n.b. In Chinese language numbers sometimes ...
- 368
5
votes
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What is 乜 doing in my landlord's WeChat message 明天有人在家乜?
乜 is a Cantonese word "mat1" or "me1", meaning "what". And it makes no sense in this sentence.
My guess is that your landlord meant to say 明天有人在家嗎？ and she uses "...
- 6,171
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a colloquial word for 'bro'?
I would use 哥们(儿) or 兄弟 in casual speech. E.g. 兄弟，不能这样啊！
But there might be some other variants too like 老兄，老弟，老哥, etc based on the context.
- 24k
4
votes
What does "你吃了吗?" mean?
As I was told by my teacher, it likely goes back to times when people didn't always have enough food. It's a curteous way of showing interest in the other persons wellbeing as well as being a greeting ...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
In Sichuanese does 日本人 mean “fuck me”?
Yes, absolutely.
日 is the Sichuanese variant of 肏 and it can also be written: 㒲.
Here's an entry from《广安方言与民俗词典》:
日
ri2
定义: 不文明语。指性交，交媾。常说成“搞”、“操”等词，民间骂人时，常说“～你妈”、“老狗～的”、“～妈的”、“～妈捣娘”、“～你先人板板”等，...
Mou某♦
- 36k
4
votes
Accepted
What does 哈批 mean?
It is pretty much just the South Western Mandarin pronunciation of: 傻逼/傻屄/傻毴.
Check out these two entries from Guang'an Topolect dictionary:
《广安方言与民俗词典》
词语: 傻
发音: ha3
定义: 傻“sha3”的音变。常说成“哈”。指愚蠢、老实、呆。如“...
Mou某♦
- 36k
4
votes
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Meaning of 五 in A: 放肆！B: 你爹放五!
It's a funny one!
As 5 (五) is bigger than 4 (肆)， it could imply B is one higher generation than A. That's why B said 你爹（your father, 放五）， implying "I am your father"(as you are "放肆" and I am "放五"！). ...
- 24k
4
votes
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Is 外地人 a derogatory word?
Like what they said, 外地人 is a neutral word. But I think the meaning has changed, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou where the economic level is higher than other cities. The natives whose ...
- 52
4
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Why is 我草 (wǒ cǎo) vs. 我操 (wǒ cāo) funny?
Probably a really late comment but none of the above answers truly explained the joke. 我草 literally means 头上长草 (got grass growing on one’s head), an expression used in China to say one is betrayed by ...
- 41
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votes
What does “tm” mean?
TM, TMD: 他妈，他妈的/地.
Depending on contexts, it could be interpreted differently:
Damn it! // (她)妈的
What the f**k are you doing? // 你TM在干嘛？
Damn hot! // 真TMD热！
What the f**king door is this? // 这是TM什么(...
- 24k
4
votes
Accepted
Is the phrase "that guy so inch" related to Putonghua?
It is Cantonese
串 /cyun3 /
[7] [粵] [adj] arrogant; cocky | [Var] 寸
"that guy so inch" is literal translations of "嗰條友咁寸(串)" in Cantonese.
The 'arrogant; cocky' definition of 串 is ...
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