You’ve learned the basics, you’ve made some Chinese friends, now it’s time to get together and have a good 八卦 (bā guà)! Learn some of the following words and phrases so you can gossip, make jokes and flatter your new found pals.
废话 (fèi huà) (you’re talking) Rubbish!
胡说！(hú shuō) Nonsense!
吹牛 (chuī niú) To brag/boast
拍马屁 (pāi mǎ pì) To flatter
普通话 (pǔ tōng huà) ‘common’ language
奇怪 (qí guài) Weird
我讨厌 (wǒ tǎo yàn) I can’t stand…
无聊 (wú liáo) Boring/Bored
受骗 (shòu piàn) To be cheated
吃亏 (chī kuī) To be at a disadvantage/suffer a loss
别上当 (bié shàng dàng) Don’t be duped! (be cheated by others)
真好笑 (zhēn hǎo xiào) That’s funny!
好玩吗？(hǎo wán ma?) Did you have fun?
好笑吗？(hǎo xiào ma?) Is it funny?
笑什么？(xiào shén me) What are you laughing at?
真有意思！(zhēn yǒu yì si) That’s interesting!
没意思 (méi yì si) Boring/ not interesting
继续 (jì xù) Go on (continue)
然后呢？(rán hòu ne?) And then?
离奇 (lí qí) Bizarre
真可怕! (zhēn kě pà) Awful!
不好意思 (bù hǎo yì si) To feel embarrassed / to be sorry
糟了 (zāo le) Oh no!
我受不了。。了！(wǒ shòu bù liǎo…le) I can’t stand…!
神秘兮兮 (shén mì xī xī) Behaving mysteriously
笑嘻嘻 (xiào xī xī) Person with a jovial face (?)
苦瓜脸 (kǔ guā liǎn) A sour expression
苦笑 (kǔ xiào) A wry smile
老大 (lǎo dà) leader
老板 (lǎo bǎn) Boss
真可怜 (zhēn kě lián) How pitiful (person)
真可惜 (zhēn kě xī) What a waste (objects)
新手 (xīn shǒu) Inexperienced person
老手 (lǎo shǒu) Experienced person
爱出风头 (ài chū fēng tou) loves to showoff
好好先生 (hǎo hǎo xiān sheng) Goody two shoes (too good)
有两下子 (yǒu liǎng xiàzi) Person with many talents
吓人 (xià rén) Awful!
奇装异服 (qí zhuāng yìfú) Unusual dress sense
外国人 (wài guó rén) Foreigner
还好。。。(hái hǎo) Fortunately…
别这样 (bié zhè yàng) Don’t be like that!
厉害 (lì hai) Brilliant!
省省吧 (shěng shěng ba) Don’t waste your energy
。。。才怪！(cái guài) ..only joking! (got you!) Note: For Big Bang Theory Fans, Chamcen referred to this as Bazinga!
黄毛丫头！(huáng máo yā tou) Silly little girl
很痛! (hěn tòng) That hurts!
我不确定 (wǒ bú què dìng) I’m not sure
他/她/它走了！(tā/tā/tā zǒu le) He/She/It’s gone!
好多人！(hǎo duō rén) There’s so many people!
躲起来 (duǒ qǐ le) Hide
热闹 (rè nao) Lively, exciting, good time!
太早了 (tài zǎo le) Too early!
太晚了 (tài wǎn le) Too late!
迟到了 (chí dào le) I’m late.
那儿没人 (nàr méi rén) There’s no one there.
太多了！(tài duō le) Too much!
太少了！(tài shǎo le) Too little!
他/她/它回来了 (tā/tā/tā huí lai le) He/She/It came back.
好尴尬 (hǎo gān gà) Mortally embarrassed.
老土 (lǎo tǔ) Old fashioned
落伍了 (luò wǔ le) Out of style
夸张 (kuā zhāng) Exaggeration
太夸张了 (tài kuā zhāng le) Too exaggerated
差远了 (chà yuǎn le) The difference is too large
开玩笑！(kāi wán xiào) You’re kidding!
工作狂 (gōng zuò kuáng) Workaholic
