花样年華

**Large part of this list is thanks to @/caerium on twitter for posting some common slang & terms used by Chinese netizens. For a link to their twitter, click here.

+ no pinyin sorry… i thought it might be too confusing

LOVE

cp: couple / ship

tla: dating (谈恋爱)

zqsg: true love (真情实感)

同志: gay person (lit. comrade)

xql: sweethearts (小情侣)

cdx: getting a boyfriend / girlfriend (处对象）

FANDOM / SOCIAL MEDIA

up / dd / 顶: bump

lz: op (original poster) (楼主)

bp: fans who don’t spend money (白嫖)

pyq: wechat “friend’s circle” or “moments” where you share pictures or posts (朋友圈)

腐女：girls who like bl (boy love) things (lit. rotten woman)

磕: ship it / like it

车: smut (sometimes indicated by a car emoji 🚗)(lit. car)

mz: liking a post in a millisecond (秒赞）

sj: someone is secretly following someone else’s weibo / hot topic / etc (视奸)

TERMS OF ADDRESS

jmm / xjm / xjj / xgg: 姐妹们 / 小姐们 / 小姐姐 / 小哥哥 cutesy honorific titles for men & women around the same age as you (lit . older / younger / little sister or brother) (use respectively: 姐: older sister 妹: younger sister 哥: older brother)

宝宝 / 宝贝: baby

公举: princess

老铁: bro, homie

p: photoshop / femme lesbian (stands for pretty /婆 wife)

t: butch lesbian (stands for tomboy / 铁 iron or 老铁 bro)

NUMBERS

666: awesome

555: crying noise boo hoo (呜呜呜)

(5)14: (I) want death (我)要死

no I / 我 = no 5

914: almost dead (就要死)

56: bored (无聊)

5366: I want to chat (我想聊聊)

995: save me (救救我)

520: I love you (我爱你)

918: jiayou 加油吧 (form of encouragement: come on! you can do it! fighting) (lit. add oil)

246: starving (饿死了)

0487: you are an idiot (你是白痴)

36: bitch

250: idiot

530: I miss you (我想你)

88: bye bye (拜拜)

INSULTS

绿茶婊: girl who pretends to be innocent but is really pretentious; basic bitch (lit. green tea bitch)

卖萌: pretending to be cute

土: basic (lit. dirt)

二货: idiot

xxj: childish person (小学鸡）

装b: cocky, pretending to be something you’re not (my dictionary says pretentious prick haha)

sjb: crazy person (神经病)

REALLY / “TO DEATH”

rxl: heart is really tired (really心累)

rsx: really broken hearted (really份心)

xsml: super envious (羡慕死了) (lit. envious to death)

rnb: really awesome or impressive (really牛b)

tcl: really unfortunate (太惨了)

qswl: really mad (气死我了)(lit. mad to death)

xs(w)l: lmao (lit. laugh to death) (笑死(我)了)

no 我 = no “w”

ETC

dbq: sorry (对不起)

dbqdrl: sorry i am intruding (on something) (对不起打扰了）

bhys: sorry (不好意思）

sk: happy birthday (生快 / 生日快乐）

bml: don’t speak bad of / don’t make fun of (别骂了)

wsl: I died (我死了)

bzd: don’t know (不知道)

ky: saying nonsense (胡说)

nbcs: nobody cares

瓜: gossip

算了: forget it (something is impossible… used in break ups sometimes too)

没门儿: no way, not a chance

什么鬼: what the heck

szd: it is real (是真的）

nsdd: you’re right (你说的对）

ttl: too sweet (太甜了)

可: ok / agree

無 / 无: none / no one

锺 / 石锺: proven

没毛病: no problem

萌: cute

酷: cool

光 guāng - light, ray

阳光 yángguāng - sunshine

光明 guāngmíng - radiance

晨光 chénguāng - early morning light

彩霞 cǎixiá - rosy clouds at sunrise or sunset

櫻花 (樱花) yīnghuā - cherry blossom

星座 xīngzuò - constellation

露水 lùshuǐ - dew; fig. ephemeral

暮靄 (暮霭) mù'ǎi - evening mist

花蕾 huālěi - flower bud

白日夢 (白日梦) báirìmèng - daydream

雪花 xuěhuā - snowflake

蜂蜜 fēngmì - honey

雨傘 (雨伞) yǔsǎn -umbrella

明星 míngxīng - star

棉花糖 miánhuatáng - cotton candy

花火 huāhuǒ - firework

香味 xiāngwèi - fragrance

落花 luòhuā fallen petals

紛飛 (纷飞) fēnfēi - to flutter around (of snowflakes, flower petals)

个 gè: for people, abstract things and objects | Ex: 我有一个老师。

口 kǒu: for family people | Ex: 我家有四口人。

只 zhī: for animals | Ex: 我爸爸家有三只狗。

条 tiáo: for long and narrow things | Ex: 她有两条鱼。

张 zhāng: for flat things | Ex: 教室里有五张桌子。

把 bǎ: for objects that can be grasped by hand | Ex: 我房间里有一把椅子。

本 běn: for books | Ex: 桌子上有四本书。

支 zhī: for long and thin things | Ex: 笔袋里有一支笔。

家 jiā: for establishments (house, hotel …) | Ex: 我哥哥开了一家公司。

块 kuài: for portions or pieces | Ex: 来吃块西瓜吧。

岁 suì: for years (old) | Ex: 我今年40岁。

棵 kē: for trees | Ex: 这棵树又高又大。

台 tái: for machines | Ex: 这台电脑是新买的。

双 shuāng: for pairs | Ex: 一双筷子。

辆 liàng: for vehicles | Ex: 一辆汽车。

篇 piān: for articles and texts | Ex: 这篇报道是我写的。  

I’ve come across some great words/idioms recently and i just really want to conglomerate them into a single list and i figured i might as well share my favs with all you guys (warning: some of these are absolutely ridiculous words but i love them)

words:

嗡嗡 wēng wēng buzz, drone, or hum (it’s the sound a bee makes 🐝)

父权制 fùquánzhì patriarchy

小屁孩 xiǎo pì hoi brat, wimpy kid

学霸 xué bà top student (almost every chinese person i know has called me this, mainly because i’ve told them i hate math but i’m good at it and i love to read) 

啪嚓 pā chā this doesn’t have a real definition, but i once saw it in a comic as the sound an umbrella makes when it opens and i love it?

装屄 zhuāng bī to be a pretentious prick (i saw this on some chinese meme and i still don’t fully understand the context of it but i love it just because there’s a word for this)

idioms:

成千上万 chéng qiān shàng wàn lit. by the thousands and tens of thousands; untold numbers (this was in the little prince)

雾里看花 wù lǐ kàn huā lit. to look at flowers in the fog; blurred vision

鳄鱼眼泪 èyú yǎnlèi lit. crocodile tears 🐊; hypocritical words of sympathy 

过了这村没这店guò le zhè cūn méi zhè diàn past this village, you won’t find this shop; this is your last chance

一命呜呼 yīmìngwūhū to die; to breathe one’s last (this was also in the little prince)

小心翼翼 xiǎoxīnyìyì cautious and solemn; very carefully

哭笑不得 kūxiàobùdé lit. not to know whether to laugh or cry; between laughter and tears; both funny and extremely embarrassing 

this is a huuuge pdf but I cannot recommend this resource enough (I have the dead tree version living on my desk). It’s got short lil chapters on almost any trouble you might run into, and they’re split into grammar troubles (all the way from modifying nouns to the passive voice) and situational troubles (how to intro yourself, formal greetings, etc.) 

here’s some inspirational chinese quotes for anybody who needs a reminder that everything will get better. stay strong and your hard worth will show its results soon.

千里之行﹐始于足下 [千里之行﹐始於足下]  

qiānlǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

循序渐进 [循序漸進] 

 xún xù jiàn jìn 

 one step at a time (crawl before you walk)

师傅领进门，修行在个人 [師傅領進門，修行在個人] 

shī fu lǐng jìn mén, xiū xíng zài gè rén 

teachers open the door. you enter by yourself

万事开头难 

 wàn shì kāi tóu nán

 all things are difficult before they are easy

山雨欲来风满楼

shān yǔ yù lái fēng mǎn lóu