It can mean “damn!” when you’re running late, or “f**k!” should you drop a hammer on your foot. I’ve also heard a longer “ āi-yoooo” to deepen the “tisk-ing” expression to a level that questions whether this person or action can be redeemed. I am so embarrassed for her.” Puts head in hands). It can take the place of sighing or “tisk”-ing, while shaking one’s head (“Āiyā, this is the third time she has made everyone pay for her dinner. Āiyā (啊呀)Ībove all Chinese expressions inscrutable to the Western ear is āiyā - used in both Mandarin and Cantonese. Just “niú bī” or “cow’s vagina” on it’s own is slang for “bitchin’” or “f***in’ awesome.” Add “bī” to anything and it just doubles the impact of the expression. For example, “ chuī niú bī” - blowing air into a cow’s vagina - or the less vulgar “ chuī niú pī,” blowing onto a cow hide ( a storied expression).īut beware.
#Aiya meaning how to
You could compare it to the American expression “full of hot air.”Ī few more popular, colorful variations can provide more detail on how to blow air into a cow. Inflating oneself, which in English, is just plain bragging. These are people you know who will frequently “ chuī niú.” They tell grand stories, use hyperbole liberally, and they always seem to come out on top at the end of the story.
I’ve been hustling as a container of rice since the 1980s. Therefore, a rice bucket is also pretty darn useless. Naturally, I learned the Rice Bucket way, and became Rice Bucket, Jr.Īs an adult, I found out this had a derogatory meaning. “ Fàn tong,” or “Rice Bucket,” was my dad’s nickname in school, literally, because he was often seen stuffing his face with rice. Fàn tǒng (饭桶) How the author ate rice in the ’80s. (Photo courtesy Christina Twu)ĭefinitions vary from slap-happy, to muddle-headed, groggy and confused, vague and indistinct, to scatterbrained.Ī term used to describe a foolish dreamer, a drunkard or someone with pregnancy brain!Īmy Tan’s version in “Joy Luck Club” describes it as a mystic “dark fog” that envelopes people - something to fear greatly.ĭoes forgetting my keys mean I have been swallowed by the dark fog of “hú lǐ hú tū”? I may never know. Hú lǐ hú tū ( 糊 里 糊 涂) The author’s hú lǐ hú tū father falling down after skiing for the first time on Snoqualmie. “It’s like, ‘Why is this person acting like this?’”īecause they are mòmíngqímiào. ” It’s a statement wrapped within a question. Or more aptly, as my friend put it in Chinglish, “The way my friend is behaving is really mòmíngqímiào. In separate characters, this almost sounds flattering, but taken together, this phrase is like the Chinese “WTF,” but more polite. The literal character-by-character translation is m ò ( 莫 ), meaning “is not,” “cannot” or “do not” míng ( 名) (title, position, rank, name) qí ( 其) translating to “that, her, its” then there’s miào ( 莫), which means clever, mysterious, subtle and exquisite. M ò míng qí miào ( 莫 名 其 妙)Īccording to the Pin Pin Chinese dictionary, the closest direct translation into English for this expression is “I can’t make heads or tails of this,” but it also works as an adjective meaning baffling or puzzling. Though I can’t pay homage to the 300-some other Chinese dialects and languages besides Mandarin (including Cantonese, with these unparalleled proverbs captured by artist Ah To), I like to believe they come from the same spirit: the Chinese trinity of judgment, humor and family love.īut mostly, I can just vouch for my own experience as a Federal Way-reared American-born Chinese (ABC). Here is a smattering of it: five Mandarin Chinese phrases the English language should take a cue from: 1. But while these words often stung, they were delivered with equal parts suspicion, warmth and humor.
They threw their words around like darts: this person was too loud, lazy, too wild they stink, they’re crazy, wrong, or they are just too much. They would pass tiger judgment and pounce on anyone walking their direction. Growing up in a Mandarin-speaking household, I always knew I could count on my family tongue to express what I couldn’t in English.įor Chinese-Taiwanese-American families like mine (and Eddie Huang’s of “ Fresh off the Boat” fame) most of what I heard growing up were from the mouths of Chinese matriarchs - a feisty auntie, a sassy mom, a scary restaurant boss. The author with her cousins at a family gathering in the ’80s.
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