by Eveline Chao
The Chinese dating scene is a strange, strange land, where men lug about their lady’s handbags, women express love by hitting their significant other while calling him stupid and nothing says “wo ai ni” like a set of matching T-shirts. But how to gain entrance to this mystical realm? Why, with these words for romancing in Chinese!
撒娇săjiāo
To throw a fit; to act coquettishly. Somehow, in China it’s cute to act like a brat. This involves a lot of pouting, speaking in the voice of a small child and hitting one’s boyfriend while telling him he’s “so bad.”
调情 tiáo qíng
To flirt. Literally, ‘throw feelings.’ Or right hooks, as the case may be.
打情骂俏dă qíng mà qiào
A literary way to say ‘flirt’ or ‘banter flirtatiously,’ which translates as ‘hit passion, scold pretty.’ This four-character phrase refers to the expression 打是亲骂是爱 dă shì qīn mà shì ài, or ‘hitting is intimacy and yelling is love.’
吃豆腐 chī dòu fu
‘Eat tofu.’ Figuratively, ‘to cop a feel.’ Between people of the same sex, it can mean ‘to bully.’ More common in the south, though most northerners should know the term, too. ‘Sell tofu’ (卖豆腐 mài dòu fu) is also a southern Chinese euphemism for prostitution.
泡妞 pào nīu
A slang term for ‘hitting on,’ ‘flirting with’ or ‘hooking up with’ girls. Literally, ‘soak a girl.’
钓凯子 diào kăi zi
‘Fish for men,’ i.e., pick up or hit on a man. Originated in Taiwan and Hong Kong but known and used everywhere.
性感 xìng găn
Sexy. Plain and simple.
AB制 AB zhì
Splitting the bill so that one side pays a bit more, say, 70 percent.
花花公子 huā huā gōng zǐ
A playboy (and also the Chinese name for Playboy magazine). Literally, ‘flower prince.’
钻石王老五zuàn shí wáng lǎowǔ
A ‘diamond bachelor’: a wealthy, older, eligible man. Used mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
王八看绿豆, 看对眼了 wáng bākàn lǜ dòu, kàn duì yǎn le
A joking expression that means two ugly people will find each other attractive. Rather poetically, ‘a tortoise will gaze at two mung beans’ (because a tortoise’s eyes look like two mung beans).
情侣衫 qíng lǚ shān/对衫 duì shān
Matching couple shirts. You know you’ve seen them…
// All words above are from NIUBI! – The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School, available on Amazon and in local English-language bookstores.
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