Foul language (Advanced): Common swear words and phrases

💬 滚 (gǔn) literally means "to roll", as in rolling away.

🇨🇳 It's very harsh when said in anger, but couples and close friends also use it jokingly.

💬 开 (kāi) after an action word means "away" or "off". The same pattern gives 走开 "go away" and 让开 "move aside".

💬 闭嘴 (bì zuǐ) is literally "close mouth".

💬 给我 (gěi wǒ) "for me" in front of a command makes it aggressive and bossy. Compare 给我出去 "get out!".

💬 笨蛋 (bèn dàn) is literally "stupid egg". It's a noun, so it means "dummy" rather than the adjective "stupid".

🇨🇳 It's mild and often affectionate, the kind of thing couples and parents say.

🇨🇳 傻逼 (shǎ bī) is extremely vulgar because the second character refers to female genitals. Online it's often disguised as "SB".

💬 王八 (wáng ba) means "turtle", so this is literally "turtle egg".

🇨🇳 Turtles were linked to men whose wives cheated, so calling someone a turtle's egg suggests they have no proper father. It's a classic, strong insult.

💬 养 (yǎng) means "to raise", so the phrase is literally "raised by a dog mother".

🇨🇳 贱人 (jiàn rén) is harsher than "jerk". It's usually aimed at women and lands closer to "bitch".

💬 渣 (zhā) means "dregs" or "leftover residue". The same insult pattern gives 渣男 "jerk boyfriend", a hugely common slang term.

💬 放屁 (fàng pì) literally means "to fart". Shouted at someone, it means "you're talking nonsense".

🇨🇳 胡说八道 (hú shuō bā dào) isn't vulgar at all. It's more like "utter nonsense!", so it's safe to use even with older people.

💬 Add 吗 (ma) to the end of any statement to make it a yes/no question: 你疯了 "you're crazy" becomes 你疯了吗.

💬 真是个 (zhēn shì gè) + noun means "you're a real ___". You can swap in a kinder word too: 你真是个天才 "you're a real genius".

💬 鬼 (guǐ) means "ghost", so this is literally "doing what ghost?". Putting 鬼 after a question word adds a "the hell" feel, as in 什么鬼 "what the heck".

💬 他妈 (tā mā) slots right into a sentence as an intensifier, like "fucking" in English: 你他妈的说什么 "what the fuck are you saying".

💬 关你什么事 means "what business is it of yours". Putting 屁 (pì) "fart" in place of 什么 makes it rude.

💬 别 (bié) + action means "don't": 别走 "don't go". 脏话 (zāng huà) is literally "dirty words".

🇨🇳 言辞 (yán cí) is a fairly formal word for "wording", so this sounds stern, like a teacher or boss. Among friends, 别说脏话 is more natural.