Ji Che-Has anyone heard this slang used by taiwanese to infer that someone is unpopular?
Is it because motorcycles are such a nuisance?
[Mod: as requested later in the thread, I’ve edited the title to make it broader. Hope that’s OK.]
[quote]Ji Che-Has anyone heard this slang used by taiwanese to infer that someone is unpopular?
[/quote]
Ji Che 機車 as in “ni hen ji che”. I heard this phrase a lot more a few years ago, than I do now. (I mean said to other people OK?). As I understand it, it doesn’t really mean ‘unpopular’, but really “you’re a real nuisance” or “you’re a pain the ass”, that is to say, synonomous with “ni hen fan”.
I have heard some people say that it comes from the fact the scooters are a real nuisance and others say that it comes form a soundalike relationship with a Taiwanese word.
Brian
Ji Che 機車 as in “ni hen ji che”. I heard this phrase a lot more a few years ago, than I do now. (I mean said to other people OK?). As I understand it, it doesn’t really mean ‘unpopular’, but really “you’re a real nuisance” or “you’re a pain the ass”, that is to say, synonomous with “ni hen fan”.
I have heard some people say that it comes from the fact the scooters are a real nuisance and others say that it comes from a soundalike relationship with a Taiwanese word.[/quote]
I think it’s the perceived closeness to the word for c*nt - Ji Bai - that has made the word so popular, just as the word “screw” has become a much more acceptable version of “fuck”. As a kid, the phrase “I’m screwed” would have only only earned a slight frown from my parents, while “I’m fucked” would have been an offense of the wash-your-mouth-out-with-soap variety. I think English has a lot of toned down versions of words or phrases that would otherwise be unacceptable - “That movie sucked” and “This school blows” are a couple of common examples.
When I first came to Taiwan, I asked my Chinese teacher (a Chinese literature teacher in the city’s best high school) where the phrase san ba (三八) or “3 8” came from. She didn’t know but researched the question for me. It turns out that 11 (十一), the sum of 3 + 8, when written in vertical Chinese style, could easily be mistaken for the character tu (土)or dirt. Calling someone 38 meant you thought they were dirt, and was a phrase directed at girls exclusively. Nowadays the phrase has mellowed to mean “bimbo”, or “bimbo-ish” and can be directed at guys also…
I was also given an explanation for the not as well known “49” but all I can remember is that the nine is supposed to have something to do with jiu, or alcohol. 
And I heard that it comes from March the Eighth which is the date of Chinese Valentine’s Day (or maybe another day - I can’t remember. Who knows?
Brian
Please excuse my Romanization. I never bothered to learn.
How about associating an act as “F-A Gee” (airplane)? When you do something stupid, someone will say “Nee Gal Sa Ma F-A Gee?”. I think it is “What airplane are you doing?” and means “What stunt are you trying to pull off?”. Usually I just try to memorize the words along with the situation and don’t try to understand the meaning or the source.
And I heard that it comes from March the Eighth which is the date of Chinese Valentine’s Day (or maybe another day - I can’t remember. Who knows?[/quote]
Chinese Valentine’s Day is the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar.
Yeah, I thought it was around that time. I remember some old Chinese teachers saying it was lover’s day, but I obviously remembered wrong, or they were very wrong.
Brian
Just tracked it down. The 3/8 San ba holiday is Women’s day (Funu Jie). From what I can tell it may just be a PRC holiday. If this phrase really came from this festival, that would mean it originated in da lu. Anyway, this reasoning fits, as saying “ta hen sanba” means that she’s really ‘girly’, or if it’s a he, he’s really camp. I think it’s also just taken ona more general derogatory tone, which doesn’t have this specific meaning.
Why not change the title of this topic to ‘Chinese slang’ and see if we can come up with some mor interesting phrases? I like ‘men 門 dou meiyou’ for ‘no way’. ‘Bai chi’ and ‘shen jing bing’ are useful for when I’m teaching (to call kids silly and crazy). Loads more.
brian
Ji Che 機車 as in “ni hen ji che”. I heard this phrase a lot more a few years ago, than I do now. (I mean said to other people OK?). As I understand it, it doesn’t really mean ‘unpopular’, but really “you’re a real nuisance” or “you’re a pain the ass”, that is to say, synonomous with “ni hen fan”.
I have heard some people say that it comes from the fact the scooters are a real nuisance and others say that it comes form a soundalike relationship with a Taiwanese word. Brian[/quote]
I only heard this phrase when I was teenagers. Its meaning is rather poor than just “ni hen fan”, but something like you really dislike that person and so call him/her in “ni hen ji che”. That is a kid’s word and sounds quite like a dirty word.
And I heard that it comes from March the Eighth which is the date of Chinese Valentine’s Day (or maybe another day - I can’t remember. Who knows? Brian[/quote]
The number 38 stands for International Working Women’s Day, which is on March 8th. To call someone 38 can be quite sweet.
You would hurt those little angels to call them Bai Chi, that means someone is an idiot or very stupid, not just silly and crazy!! :? If someone makes us feel very angry, we scold them “Shen jing bing” and that also means someone suffers from mental disorder!!
I think 38 goes with 46…
is that right jen?
ax
You mean 49 (sijiu). See my post above.
[quote=“Maoman”]
I think it’s the perceived closeness to the word for c*nt - Ji Bai - that has made the word so popular, just as the word “screw” has become a much more acceptable version of "fuck</profanity[/quote]
Correct, except that jiba is the male organ. (Talking about Mandarin here, might be different in other dialects.) Guys, you have one jiba and two jibadan, get it? Da feiji (shooting down aeroplanes,) also known as da pao (shooting your cannon,) is something that guys do with their jiba. If you go too long without da feiji you might hua ditu (draw a map - on your sheets.)
Please note that my name is spelled with a U 
Next time you go to a banquet, try pointing at a poultry dish and saying in very loud Chinese “That’s chicken, isn’t it?” (那事雞吧)
Correct, except that jiba is the male organ. (Talking about Mandarin here, might be different in other dialects.)[/quote]
Right, but I said Ji Bai, not Ji Ba. And Ji Bai most assuredly is the Taiwanese slang word for c*nt.
I thought it might be a dialect thing. Would you happen to know how to write it?
Hee hee…always ready to serve in the interest of linguistic fidelity…the following from the English-Taiwanese dictionary published by (ahem) the Maryknoll Fathers:
vagina: (vulgar) chi-bai (the characters listed are the same ones listed for the “normal” (i.e., non-vulgar or scientific) form of the word, "im-ho7 [with that following dot after the “o”] or im-to7.
In other matters, how would one properly abbreviate the name for a road from Bali to Jilong?? 
I know what you mean as a Taiwanese but I don’t suggest you guys learn this slang, this sounds so grubby, dirty and people would feel you are uncivilized to hear you say that. 
OK, I get 陰道 and I suppose the first one is 陰戶 - still wondering if “chi-bai” is 雞巴, which means “dick” (British “cock”) in Mandarin. Sorry to offend you, Jenny. The Italians have a much nicer name for the female organ - fiorella (little flower.)
chi-bai is 芝麻 
The correct romanization should be “ni gao she me fei ji” 你搞什麼飛機