The 10 Most Common Chinese Swear Words

Yes, you opened the right page, we are going to look at the bad words in Chinese. I know lots of you have already learned somewhere somehow, but your teacher never taught you this, right? In fact, it is necessary to learn how to say the bad words in Chinese, especially when you are a 老外(foreigner). It’s nice to be equipped with a few insults to throw back to show that you’re not a 听不懂的傻老外 tīng bu dǒng de shǎ lǎowài (stupid forerigner who understands nothing). Here the most common used Chinese silly words are listed below.

-Mother Related
Just as the other languages, the most offensive words always have something to do with someone’s mother. Chinese is no exception. A lot of the most hurtful insults related to someone’s mother can be easily found, and much worse. Chinese learners should be warned, the phrase I’m going to present will only get you trouble, so proceed with caution cause I’ve seen plenty of fights started over this.
1. 他妈的 (tā mā de)–It literally translates as “his mother’s”, which is the English equivalent of “damn it”. Just as you can use the F word for different situations, Chinese people are also good at using it, even sometimes tā mā de only strengthen the meaning of the sentence and it actually makes the language more fun. Especially if you live in the northern provinces in China or the big cities, you’ll probably hear this more than a few times everyday. Also, if you google the initial TMD, you’ll see it everywhere on the online forums.

-Sex Related
There are also tons of curse words in Chinese related to sex, prostitution, genitals, etc. I’ll list them from the less serious one to the most cursing one.
2. 二逼 (èr bī )–This means ‘double vagina’ and is used to call someone a “f***ing idiot”.
3. 傻逼 (shǎ bī)–Literally meaning “stupid vagina,” it means “so stupid”.
4. 公共汽车 (gōng gòng qì chē)–Calling a lady a “public bus” means that everyone gets a ride. It usually used for describing a girl who is slutty.

-Egg Related
5. 滚蛋(gǔn dàn)–Literally, it means “rolling egg”. You can use this to tell somebody get out or piss off. And you can also say “滚开”, it means the same as “滚蛋”.

-F*** Related
6. 操(cào)–Literal translation is “f***”. This can mean “Holy shit!”. Additionally, you may hear people say"靠 (kào)", especially in public and from women, as this is not as offensive.

-Number Related
7. 二(èr)-Originated from northern dialect, calling someone "2" means they are kind of silly and hilarious.
8. 二百五(Èr bǎi wǔ)–The number of 250 means a stupid person. It comes from a local joke in which people got a good laugh about a silly son of a rich man. “Nǐ zhēn èrbǎiwǔ” basically is “You are so stupid!/ You are such an idiot!”.
9. 三八(sān bā)-As for the number of thirty eight. Actually, I’m quite fond of this word. It means “bitchy”, but by using different intonation and facial expression, it can be both “bitchy” in a negative way and “bitchy” in a cute way, especially among good friends.

-Color Related
10. 戴绿帽子(dài lǜ mào zi)-It literally means “wear a green hat”. It usually used for a man whose girl friend or wife is cheating on him.

It is not advocated that say the above words, learn those words just to avoid some Chinese people bully you as you’re a foreigner. Learn some useful daily Chinese is more important, here to get started!