Colorful slang
Level up your slang and make your Mandarin conversations more colorful. In Chinese simple colors are used in a lot of creative and descriptive expressions. These are especially useful in daily Chinese, speaking and TV dramas.
Simplified
Traditional
Pinyin
| Selected | Simplified (Traditional) | Pinyin | Definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 很 红 (很 紅) | tā hěn hóng | Very popular and famous | |
| 爆红 (爆紅) | bào hóng | Went viral | |
| 大红人 (大紅人) | dà hóng rén | Famous person of the moment literally "big red person" | |
| 网红 (網紅) | wǎng hóng | Internet celebrity | |
| 红颜知己 (紅顏知己) | hóng yán zhī jǐ | Female soulmate (from guy's perspective) | |
| 很 黄 (很 黃) | hěn huáng | Over 18 content | |
| 黄色 笑话 (黃色 笑話) | huáng sè xiào huà | Dirty jokes | |
| 黄脸婆 (黃臉婆) | huáng liǎn pó | When a once-glamorous wife turns into a tired, nagging housewife — we say she’s a “Yellowfaced Lady” | |
| 绿茶 (綠茶) | lǜ chá | Looks innocent, acts gentle, but knows exactly how to manipulate people — especially men. | |
| 他 被 绿 了 (他 被 綠 了) | tā bèi lǜ le | A guy got cheated on by his wife or girlfriend | |
| 戴 绿 帽 (戴 綠 帽) | dài lǜ mào | When a man gets cheated on by his partner, we say he ‘wears a green hat.’ So yeah… in Chinese culture, we don’t wear green hats. Ever! | |
| 深绿 (深綠) | shēn lǜ | Political slang - Hardcore pro-Green. (In Taiwan, green represents the Democratic Progressive Party) | |
| 深蓝 (深藍) | shēn lán | Political slang - Hardcore pro-Blue. (In Taiwan, blue represents the Chinese Nationalist Party, also named Kuomintang or KMT) | |
| 蓝颜知己 (藍顏知己) | lán yán zhī jǐ | Male soulmate (from a female perspective) | |
| 小粉红 (小粉紅) | xiǎo fěn hóng | Political slang - Pro-CCP youth (Young internet users who strongly support the Chinese Communist Party) | |
| 黑心 | hēi xīn | Heartless and unethical - literally “black-hearted” | |
| 腹黑 | fù hēi | Sweet on the outside, evil on the inside (originally from Japan) | |
| 背黑锅 (背黑鍋) | bēi hēi guō | Scapegoat, take the blame - literally “carrying the black pot” | |
| 黑马 (黑馬) | hēi mǎ | Unexpected winner | |
| 拉黑 | lā hēi | Block someone online Only in China | |
| 黑历史 (黑歷史) | hēi lì shǐ | Dark or embarrassing history e.g. your emo photos on Facebook | |
| 黑 化 | hēi huà | When a good character turns evil (especially in TV drama) | |
| 洗 白 | xǐ bái | When a bad character turns good (especially in TV drama) | |
| 白目 | bái mù | Person with 0% social awareness 100% mood-killer energy Can’t read the room to save their life Only in Taiwan | |
| 白富美 | bái fù měi | White + rich + pretty. Chinese version of pretty rich girl | |
| 白马王子 (白馬王子) | bái mǎ wáng zǐ | Prince Charming The perfect boyfriend type | |
| 小白脸 (小白臉) | xiǎo bái liǎn | Looks like a prince, spends like a princess but... with his woman’s money! | |
| 白眼狼 | bái yǎn láng | Ungrateful brat Someone who bites the hand that feeds them Only in China | |
| 翻白眼 | fān bái yǎn | To roll one's eyes | |
| 白 痴 (白 癡) | bái chī | a stupid person or someone who is behaving in a stupid way Only in Taiwan |