Chinese expressions with GHOST word in them! Amazing list!

I can hardly speak the lingo, but I learned these words recently from my GF, who tells me that there are actually quite a few expressions with the word GWEI (ghost) in them. Take a look and please add more and correct me where appropriate. This is all BUSASA to me! [That’s Taiwanese for “It’s Greek to me!”

Ready?

and excuse my romanspelling system, I made it up meself!

jyo gwei = someone who drinks too much, a drunkard, an alcoholic, a “wine ghost”, an “alcoholic beverage ghost”

dan shaio gwei = ? I forget: what does this mean?

chong-gwei = a stingy person, “a money ghost”

ai tsu gwei = eat too much, an overeater, a gourmand, “an eating ghost”

ai coo gwei = a crybaby!.. “a crying ghost”

lan dou gwei = ?

taoyuan gwei = ?

sir gwei = a sex addict, a horny man, a randy bloke, sir being sex and gwei, ghost. so he is a “sex ghost”

ANY MORE? I think this use of GHOST in the expressions in quintisentially (sp?) Chinese and cool!

If any of you oldtimers know more , please post. Maybe there is even an oldtimer ghost expression like Lao Wai Gwei?

yang gwei=westerner (derogatory)
hei gwei=black person (highly derogatory)
xi shei gwei=vampire (suck blood ghost!!)

dan xiao gui = coward
lan duo gui = lazy bum
tao yan gui = a jerk, an arsehole, or (choice word here to apply to someone you don’t like).
mo gui = a devil (I think, correct me if I’m wrong)

Seen on subtitles on TV:
Zhe shi shenme gui difang? (What the hell is this place?)

xiao gwei=bratty, snot-nosed kid

True, but it’s not the most derogatory term for kids. I would translate xiao gui as being the equivalent of “rugrat”. If you really want to emphasize their brattiness, you have to call them si xiao hai or “dead children”. It probably translates best as “fucking kids!”. You could say it about your own children in public, but you could never say it about someone else’s children (at least not to their face! :wink: ).

[quote=“Maoman”]
you have to call them si xiao hai or “dead children”. [/quote]

Yeah, they run rampant in Taiwan because parents DON’T control them in public! "La dolce vitade yo yung shi you nemmmma duo si xiao hai! Dwei bu dwei?
Ai yoooouuu…

Feel free to tweak my pinyin, I’ll never get the hang of it due to being brought up under the insane system here…

thanks for everyone’s help, very interesting list.

By the way, when you mentioned “shi shaio hai” as dead fucking kids, I have heard the Japanese people referred to in Taiwanese as “shi nippona” and when i asked my friends what that meant, they said it was WAY impolite and meant “fucking Japs!” So i asked if one could say “shi atoah” for “fucking long nose foreigner” and they said, that term does get said, but not to one’s face , er, nose. Then i asekd if we could say “shi taiwanren” and they said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! can’t say that. But can we?

Just curious.

Formosa, don’t forget that “gui” is also sometimes better translated to mean “devil” instead of “ghost”.

Take, for example, the derogatory “yang gui”. This would have a meaning closer to “foreign devil” rather than “foreign ghost”.

I’ve also heard “bai gui” (white devil) used in place of “yang gui”. Can’t recall if I heard it in Taiwan or in the States as “yang gui” is more commonly said. Perhaps it’s something said in Mainland, or have others in Taiwan also heard “bai gui”?

To add a couple, although these may not be widely used and could be made up or just for fun, I have a few friends who often use “su gui” (vegetarian devil) and “da bi gui” (big-nosed devil), the first one however most likely a joke pointed at me for my picky eating habits. :laughing:

Mogui=Arnold Schwartzenegger :x

Aren’t “Mogui” the cute little fuzzy creatures from Gremlins? :laughing:

feng liao gwei=playboy
shr gwei=dirty old pig

Alien, those are great! Might you be able to supply the character form of those? :wink:

Not from home. Only have English windows here. I will try from office tomorrow if I remember…

Can also say
du gwei=gambler
tan (greedy) chr(eat) gwei=glutton, piggie.

[quote=“Alien”]feng liao gwei=playboy
shr gwei=dirty old pig[/quote]
Do you mean feng liu? This means playboy, but there is a little bit of naughtiness to it that is lacking in the term hua hua gong zi, which is usually used to describe playboys. I think in the second one you mean se gui, not shr gwei, as there is no retroflex in the word. It is the same “se” found in the word colour, and it doesn’t necessarily mean old, or pig, but rather an over-sexed individual. It is also the nickname Cranky’s wife gave this website (Segue - se gui, get it?) A glance at the magazine collection of a university freshman might earn him the moniker, depending on the hormonal level of the candidate.

Think you’re right Maoman, sometimes Xiao Shan has a hard time explaining things to me. Afterall, he’s not my Chinese teacher…
BUt he says ‘si gwei’ is more derogatory, meaning, dirty old man, basically, or i’d say ‘leery old pig’

[quote=“formosa”]I have heard the Japanese people referred to in Taiwanese as “shi nippona” and when i asked my friends what that meant, they said it was WAY impolite and meant “fucking Japs!” So i asked if one could say “shi atoah” for “fucking long nose foreigner” and they said, that term does get said, but not to one’s face , er, nose. Then i asekd if we could say “shi taiwanren” and they said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! can’t say that. But can we?

Just curious.[/quote]

Go to Tainan. Within a week you’ll have someone say ‘shi adogah’ towards you, very well within earshot. They’re such a nice people down there. And yes, you can say ‘shi daiwanlang (taiwanren).’ Everybody thinks its rude as hell, and then start talking about the ‘shi yatbunlang (ribenren)’ or ‘shi adogah.’ Apparently it’s not nearly as rude as when you’re referring to their race. Oh well.

For any who live down south and hear ‘adogah’ (pointy nose) cried out three times a day (I’m not exaggerating in case you haven’t lived there…), try responding in a humourous tone ‘mo-pi-a’, which means ‘flat nose.’ They never seem to like it, but hey, if we’re speaking in relative terms, I don’t see the difference myself… :smiling_imp:

In taiwanese si3 (death) is pronounced closer to xi .

you can add si3 to almost anything, like tiao zi (Pig, as in police), to make:

si tiao zi (fuckin’ pig!)

[quote=“littleiron”]
Go to Tainan. Within a week you’ll have someone say ‘shi adogah’ towards you, very well within earshot.[/quote]So now you know how I chose my handle. Not that I’m ever a pain in the ass or upset anybody to get myself called this of course :wink:

Well, for anyone who’s sick of being stared at (like me), try ‘kwo sa shao’. Translates roughly to ‘What the fuck are you looking at?’ Oh, and if you’re really pissed, you can say ‘ding go gi’, (you wanna fight?) and call them a ‘ji bai’ and ‘be lan’ (the first means ‘cunt’ :blush: and the second means ‘freak’ – my favourite) :smiley:

Probably won’t help you out too much if you say it to a bunch of burly (as burly as taiwanese people can get) triads… just a thought though.

or if you want to start a punch up with a Taiwanese

Gan Lee Knee A

Which means “I will F*ck with your mother”