Singapore sexual slang

Introduction
Singapore is a nation of immigrants. Most were uneducated peasants who fled their home
countries to seek a better economic future. As such, the vernacular that they brought with them
was an earthy one, containing many vulgarities and crude expressions with which they peppered
their daily conversations.
This atavistic remnant of an uncultured ancestry can still be heard today, although the possibility
of encountering such instances of colourful glossal flourishes in written form, apart from graffiti,
is extremely remote indeed. In the case of the Chinese dialects, it is well nigh impossible as
colloquial dialectal speech has never been written down. Only a more literary form may be found
in dialect operas. Hong Kong has, in the past few decades, developed a written form of
Cantonese used in some novels, periodicals and comics, but this cannot be said of Hokkien or
Teochew.
A salient feature of Asian culture is its superficial veneer of politsse. Literature and the written
word have traditionally been regarded as respectable art forms not to be defiled by the expression
of verbal crudities. These factors further compound the difficulty of finding printed examples of
Singaporean colloquial sexual slang.
Thus, it is imperative that this historically important (but embarrassing to some) aspect of local
culture be preserved for posterity, especially since facility in Chinese dialects is eroding
precipitously amongst the younger generation.

English/Singlish
Singlish, a portmanteau of the words Singaporean and English, is the English-based creole
spoken colloquially in Singapore. Only a handful of common English sexual slang words are
used by the English-educated in Singapore. The following are unique concoctions influenced by
native languages.

Cuckoo bird / Bird-bird / bird / birdie - penis, especially of small children;

direct Singlish translation of the Malay and Chinese dialect slang words for
penis.

Brother / small brother - penis; direct Singlish translation of the Singaporean

Mandarin slang word for penis.

Balls! / Balls to you! - Singlish version of "Bollocks!"; probably a direct

translation from the Hokkien "Ln-pha!"

Chicken - a female prostitute; a direct Singlish translation of the Cantonese

slang word for prostitute.

Duck - a masculine male prostitute or gigolo, who may also service male
homosexuals; a direct Singlish translation of Cantonese slang.

Play - to have sex.

Steam - to be sexually aroused; to have an erection. Probably derived from

the word "STIMulated".

Talk cock - to talk nonsense; probably derived from a combination of the

proper English "cock and bull" and the Hokkien "kng ln-chiu e".

Sell backside - to prostitute oneself; to compromise one's dignity, especially

for pecuniary gain; also used to rib someone who has bent forward with his
rump thrust out prominently.

Itchy backside - used to describe a person who has nothing to do, but of his
own volition performs a spurious act which usually lands him in trouble.

Carry balls / ball carrier - to be a sycophant / obsequious person.

Bang balls - to be frustrated, especially when the outcome of an event is

contrary to what one expects; probably a direct translation of the Hokkien "t
ln".

Fuck - slang of army origin meaning "to scold". Examples:

o

"Recruit, you better wake up your idea, OK? Don't let me fuck you!"
(You'd better improve your attitude, recruit, or I'll give you a good
dressing-down.)

"He damn idle one, that's why always kena fuck". (He's very lazy,
that's why he's always getting scolded.) Kena is a Malay-derived word
meaning "to get" and used to indicate the passive voice, i.e. that the
subject has been the recipient of an (usually unpleasant) action. "One"
is usually used as a suffixed possessive particle, a direct translation of
the Chinese "de" or the Malay "punya", but in this case functions as an
adjectival particle.

Chi bai leaf / chee bye leaf - literally "cunt leaf", from the Hokkien slang word
for vagina (see below). An expression used in the army to describe an
inappropriately large or conspicuous leaf, usually plucked by an
inexperienced recruit, totally unsuitable for camouflage.

Tiger show - A Singlish corruption of "Thai-girl show"; denoting the live-sex

shows in Bangkok.

Euphemisms

Basket - euphemistic substitute for "bastard"; usually used to express

frustration or disappointment, as in the English "Drat!" or "Damn!"

Fish - euphemistic substitute for "fuck"; most commonly used in the

expression "What the fish!".

The names of local fruit are sometimes used refer to sexual organs:

banana - penis

papaya - breast

rambutan (a red, egg-shaped fruit covered with hair-like appendages) testicle

penis is sometimes referred to as "duck" or "lan jiao"

PCC is also another word for masturbation.

Malay
Malay is an Austronesian language, and uses a largely phonemic writing system based on the
Latin alphabet. As such, examples of Malay sexual slang are commonly found in the scripts of
plays and in conversation quotes in modern novels.

Kotek - slang from Indian Tamil language means testicle or balls

Konek - slang for penis; cock.

Butuh - vulgar slang for penis; cock.

Kepala butuh - vulgar slang for glans penis; cock head.

Burung - literally 'bird'; euphemism for 'penis'.

Bodek - slang for testicles; balls.

Pantat - vulgarity for "cunt" or "vagina".

Punggung - more polite word for buttocks.

Jubur / Jubo - slang for anus; arsehole.

Merancap / Melancap - to masturbate (applied to males).

Melocok - to masturbate (applied to females).

Tetek - slang for breast; boobs.

Nonok - slang for vagina; cunt.

Puki - vulgar slang for vagina; cunt. Expression:

Puki mak - "Your mother's cunt!"

Raba-raba - literally 'to feel or grope'; petting.

Sodok - to fuck.

Ngentot / ewe - vulgar Indonesian slang for fuck

Merodok / mengancuk / mengayuk / menghamput / mengewe / mengentot to fuck.

Main punggung/main pantat/main jubo - literally "to play with the backside";
to sodomise someone.

Merogol - to rape.

Memperkosa - Indonesian, meaning "to rape".

Hisap - to suck.

Jilat - to lick.

Cium - to kiss.

Zakar - Arabic-derived, scientific word for penis.

Pelir - proper word for penis.

Ciceh/kontol - rarely used words for penis.

Buah pelir/buah zakar - literally "fruit of the penis"; proper words for testicles.

Buah dada - literally "fruit of the chest"; proper word for breast.

Faraj - Arabic-derived, proper word for vagina.

Chinese
Mandarin

Mandarin was historically not native to the largely Southern Chinese who populate Singapore. It
is the uniting literary language of all ethnic Chinese, and originated in Northern China. Early
Singaporean Chinese immigrants learnt it more as a second language after their mother tongue
which was, for most, a Southern Chinese dialect. Thus, sexual slang words used by Northern
Chinese are uncommonly used in Singapore and direct Mandarin translations of the dialectal
forms are popular instead.

D di / xio d di (/) - literally 'little brother'; slang for penis.

J b / Xio j j (/) - slang for penis; used by northern and mainland

Chinese; not commonly used by Singaporean Chinese. Usually abbreviated to
"JJ", especially on gay Chinese websites.

Yn jng () - scientific word for penis.

B () - classical Chinese word for vagina; not used by Singaporean Chinese.

Yn do () - scientific word for vagina.

D shu qing () - Mandarin translation of Hokkien slang meaning male

masturbation. (lit: firing a handgun)

D fi j () - slang for male masturbation, the imagery being anti-aircraft

fire or spunk flying out like an airplane.

Shu yn () - scientific word for masturbation.

P g ()- buttocks or anus.

Gng mn ()- scientific word for anus.

Gng jio ()- scientific word for anal intercourse.

Lun jio () - scientific word for promiscuous sex.

Ku jio () - scientific word for oral sex.

Pio () - to go whoring.

Dio (a "" with a "" inside it; or ) - Mandarin translation of Cantonese

slang meaning "to fuck".

Gn dn () - fuck of!

Co (; sometimes wrongly written as ) - northern Chinese slang for fuck,

not used by Singaporean Chinese.

Gn () - milder northern Chinese slang for fuck, not used by Singaporean

Chinese.

Gn cao () - northern Chinese slang meaning to fuck, not used by

Singaporean Chinese.

Liao - to rim (eg. an anus with the tip of the tongue).

X () - to suck.

R fng () - scientific word for breast.

R tu () - scientific word for nipple.

J () - literally meaning "chicken", slang for "female prostitute".

Y ()- literally meaning "duck", slang for masculine "male prostitute" or

"gigolo".

J n () - proper word for "female prostitute".

T m de j dn () - literally 'his mother's eggs'; (j) is an oblique

reference to the Hokkien 'chi-bai' meaning 'cunt' (see below). Thus, the
expression is akin to the English use of 'shoot' as a milder substitute for 'shit'.

J dn go () - literally 'cake made with eggs'. Also an allusion to the

Hokkien 'chi-bai', used in a similar way as the previous expression.

B p () - Mandarin translation of Cantonese slang for bitch.

S sn b/Chu sn b (/) - bitch.

Hua dn () - literally 'bad or ruined egg.' "bastard"

Wng b dn () - son-of-a-bitch; bastard.

Bio zi () - Northern Chinese slang for bitch, not used by Singaporean

Chinese.

Some slang words have no direct Chinese characters to represent them.

Hokkien

Hokkien is the largest dialect group in Singapore. Chinese dialects are languages in their own
right, unlike dialects of Indo-European languages, and are not readily mutually intelligible. The

main reason why they have not historically been accorded language status is that they have no
extensive literary tradition apart from opera librettos. Many dialect words have not been assigned
a standardised Chinese character to represent them. Thus, it is almost impossible to find these
common expressions in any form of literature despite the popularity of their use in everyday life
for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Many regard Hokkien as having the highest frequency of
crude expressions in daily conversation, a characteristic which lends it a unique flavour.

Ln-chiu (+ ) - penis; also used as an expression to indicate

incredulity, as in the English "Bullshit!". Expressions:
o

Kng ln-chiu oe ( + ) - to talk rubbish

Kho sim-mih ln-chiu? ( + ) - "What the hell are you

looking at?"

Ln-pha - scrotum; also used as an expression to indicate incredulity, as in

the English "Bullshit!"

Ln-ht - testes; used in a similar way as the above examples.

Khha-chhng () - buttocks or anus

Kha-chhng khang () - anus; arsehole

Chi-bai - vagina; cunt

Ni ()- breast

Kn ()- to fuck. Expressions:

o

"Kn ni na-bu chhau chi-bai"; often abbreviated to "kn ni na-bu" or

simply "kn ni na"- the most infamously popular Hokkien expletive
meaning "fuck your mother's smelly cunt". Amazingly not considered
very rude in Singapore by rough-edged young male and female
Hokkiens popularly known as Ah Bengs & Ah Lians respectively and
often interjected in passing, more to express frustration than anger,
into perfectly normal social discourse. However, an average Chinese
Singaporean would consider it to be extremely vulgar. Some would
advise that the expletive not be used against a female as one may run
the risk of being reported to the police for harassment.

"Sio kn" - to fuck

"Tioh kn" ()- to get fucked

"Hiong kn/hong kn" - expression used in anger, meaning "go get

fucked!"

Phah chhu-chhng ()- literally 'to fire a hand-gun'; slang for male
masturbation

Phuh - to fuck

Ba ()- literally 'to rub' or 'to grind'. Slang for 'having sex', the imagery
being two bodies rubbing against each other.

Teh - literally 'to squeeze' or 'to lie on something'. Slang for 'fuck'. Expression:
o

Se - literally 'to whack'. Slang for 'fuck'. Expression:

o

"lan chiao li ka" (suck my cock), used in anger as in "up yours!"

Khm ()- literally 'to cover'; slang for fellatio. Expression:

o

"li hor lang se" (you let yourself get fucked).

K () - literally 'to bite'; slang for fellatio. Expression:

o

"li hor lang teh" (you let yourself get [[squeezed).

"khm ln" ( +) (stupid cock).

Chhu-ni () - literally 'rubber'; slang for condom

Cantonese

Many uniquely Cantonese words which traditionally have not had any Chinese characters
assigned to represent them have been expressed in Hong Kong by the addition of the (mouth)
radical to the left side of a phoneme. Thus, amongst the Chinese dialects, examples of written
Cantonese sexual slang are the most commonly found in modern literature.

Ku ku chiao - penis

Hai () - vagina

Diu (a "" with a "" inside it; or ) - to fuck. Expressions:

o

"diu nei ma ge ch'au hai" - the Cantonese version of the Hokkien "kan
ni na-bu chhau chi-bai" (see above)

"Diu nei ah seng" - fuck your family

abbreviated variations are "diu nei hai" () (fuck your cunt) and
"diu nei" ()(fuck you)

"diu nei lou mou" () - fuck your mother

Si fatt () - buttocks; anus

Si fatt long () - anus; arsehole

B () - breast

Pok kai () - fallen on the street (Singaporean Cantonese Slang for "Drop
Dead!")

Indian
Tamil

Tamil is a Dravidian language and exhibits a marked diglossia between the spoken and written
forms, a characteristic not found in the other Singaporean official languages. As such, it is also
difficult to find instances of colloquial sexual slang in any form of literature.

Sunni - slang for penis.

Poolu - slang for penis.

Koodi - slang for anus. (pronounced 'Koo'-'thi')

Pundai - slang for vagina.

Alhul - slang for vagina.

Uumpu- to suck a penis.

Ozhu - to fuck.

Megalai - an ornament used to cover the vagina when no undergarment is

worn.

Kai adiththal - male masturbation.

Kaai adiththal - destruction of one's testicles.

Mulai / thanam / maarbu - proper word for breast.

Mulai kann - literally "breast eye"; proper word for nipple.

Vaesi - proper word for prostitute.

Vithai pai - literally "seed bag"; proper word for scrotum.

Malavaay - literally "faeces portal"; proper word for anus.

Kalavi - proper word for coitus.

Ovvaa punnartchi - proper word for incest.

Suuppi - proper word for nipple.

(See also Sri Lankan Tamil slang)

Malayalam

Poya - penis
Telugu

Saadu - female vaginal secretion

Sulli - penis
Gudda - arse
Kannada
Hindi

Choot - cunt; another word derived from it is chootiya meaning stupid, the latter being equivalent
to dumb ass.
Chode - to fuck; usually suffixed in combination with madar (mother), beti (daughter) or behn
(sister).
Gaand - ass
Gaandu - asshole; usually used in the sense of stupid.

See also

Singapore gay terminology

Mandarin slang

Diu (Cantonese)

References

The Coxford Singlish Dictionary

Times Comparative Dictionary of Malay-Indonesian Synonyms, compiled by

Dr. Leo Suryadinata, edited by Prof. Abdullah Hassan (1991, Times Editions
Pte. Ltd., ISBN 981-204-215-6).

Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, by

Rev. Carstairs Douglas (SMC Publishing Inc., Taipei ISBN 957-9482-32-2).

A Dictionary of Cantonese Slang: The Language of Hong Kong Movies, Street

Gangs and City Life, by Christopher Hutton and Kingsley Bolton (2005,
Singapore University Press, ISBN 9971-69-324-0). Balaji's Tamil-English
Dictionary (1980, Balaji Publications, Madras).

Singapore gay terminology

English/Singlish
PLU - acronym for People Like Us, the main organisation involved in the struggle for gay
equality. It is used as a slang word for LGBT people, especially amongst the younger internetsavvy generation. Only in fashion for less than a decade, but rapidly becoming the most popular.
Ay-jay or A-jay - Pig Latinised form of 'gay', with the hard 'g' converted to a soft one to further
disguise its form. Coined by English-educated schoolboys from some of the better schools in the
1990s.
Muffadet - Singlish corruption of 'hermaphrodite', used not with the proper meaning of a person
with genitalia from both sexes, but as a synonym for an effeminate male. Formerly popular with
especially Eurasians of the older generation.
Sister - slang for a transwoman (male-to-female transgender, transvestite or transsexual person).
A.Q. or A.K. - acronym for Ah Kua or Ah Qua, the Hokkien word for transvestite (see below).
G - abbreviation of 'gay'. Example: 'Is he a G?'
On - slang meaning 'gay'. Example: 'Is he on?'

Malay
Pondan - an effeminate male; increasingly being used by the Malaysian - media to refer also to
non-effeminate male homosexuals.
Bapok- derogatory word for an effeminate male.

Kedik - derogatory word, derived from the Tamil 'kiddi' (see below), also meaning an effeminate
male.
Liwat - used in Malay to mean homosexual; derived from the Arabic word for homosexual
behaviour, a serious crime under Shari'a law.
Luti - Arabic for homosexual, literally the Biblical apostle Lot; not commonly used by the
Malays.
Homoseksual - obviously derived from the English.
Mak nyah - Transwoman. "Mak" is a colloquial contraction of "emak", meaning "mother". The
term "mak nyah" was coined by the Malaysian male transsexual community (in 1987 when they
tried to set up a society but was denied by the Malaysian Registrar of Societies) as a preferred
substitute for "pondan" or "bapok" which generally refers to men who are effeminate
homosexual (and cisgender) males..
Ponen - an effeminate male (less commonly used).
Pak nyah - Transman (female-to-male transgender or transsexual person); percieved to be much
rarer than mak nyahs.
Abang - literally 'older brother', but used as slang for transmen
Waria - an Indonesian contraction of 'wanita' meaning woman and 'pria' meaning man, thus
coining a word for a third sex, usually meaning transgender people.
Wadam- a contraction of 'wanita' and 'Adam', literally a woman who looks like Adam;
masculine female or butch lesbian.
Cunta - uncommonly-used word for "hermaphrodite".
Khunsa - an Arabic-derived term for "hermaphrodite" (intersex people) used by the Islamic
Religious Department in Malaysia which permits such an individual to undergo medical
treatment to convert to one or the other sex. Also formerly used as a term for lesbians.
Mukhannis - an Arabic-derived term for a pre-operative transgender people; used by the Islamic
Religious Department in Malaysia which forbids such a person to undergo sex-reassignment
surgery, cross-dresses, wears make-up or even act effeminately.

Mukhannas - an Arabic-derived term for an effeminate male who does not want to change his
physical sex; used by the Islamic Religious Department in Malaysia which forbids such a person
to cross-dress, wear make-up or even act effeminately.
Kes cermin - literally means "mirror case"; prison slang for an inmate convicted for a
homosexual crime.

Chinese
Mandarin

Tng xng lan (): "homosexual love"

Tng xng lan zhe () - "proper" or "scientific" term for a homosexual. The suffix
zhe ('person' or 'one who') is frequently dropped--incorrectly according to many grammarians--in
colloquial Mandarin usage in Singaporean usage (as well as in China).
Tng xng a () - homosexuality (lit. "homosexual love"); a more respectful term than
'tng xng lan' ().
B li () - (lit. "glass") slang for male homosexual. It draws an analogy between the opening
or mouth of a glass bottle and the male anus.
Tng zh () - properly meaning "comrade", but used as slang for homosexual in mainland
China, Hong Kong and Taiwan . Not commonly used by Singaporean Chinese.
Je mi () - literally meaning "sisters"; a term of endearment used between transwomen, or
even effeminate gay men, to address each other.
Kng tng zhng () - a recently-coined scientific term for "homophobia", a product of
Western culture.
Yn yng rn () - an intersex person; literally meaning "a person with feminine and
masculine qualities"; .
Rn yo () - a term for transgender people who usually perform on stage; literally meaning
"human monster" or more euphemistically, "enchanting person". It is the Mandarin version of the
Hokkien A-kua. This term is typically offensive in among Chinese speakers and is mainly
applied to South-east Asian transgender people, especially Thai katoey or ladyboys. EthnicChinese transgender people themselves almost universally avoid the term, favoring less
deprecative descriptions.

Ban xng zhe () - scientific term for a trangender person who has undergone sex
reassignment surgery, hormonal treatment or lifestyle changes.
Bn zhang hang hu () - cross-dressing queen; drag queen.
Y zhang p () - literally meaning "obsession with the opposite (sex's) attire"; crossdressing.
Zhng xng rn () - an intersex person; lit. "neutral" or "middle sex person"
Ka xng rn () - recently coined term for a transgender individual; it has a somewhat
scientific/technical ring
Hokkien

Qa - a transvestite, or more recently, with sex reassignment surgery becoming more

available, also a transsexual woman. Used in the past to refer to male cross-dressers who perform
in Chinese operas or 'wayangs' as they are locally called.
Or - literally meaning 'black crow', it is used as a covert form of Qa , referring to the
cackle that crows make, which sounds like a contracted form of Qa . Not widespread.
Pong - 'pong' is the Hokkien translation of 'pump'; used to refer to a straight man who enjoys
being the passive partner in anal intercourse, i.e. getting 'pumped'.
Mo-Tau-Hu - literally 'to knead soyabean/tofu'; used to refer to sex between two 'bottoms' or
effeminate/passive gay men, where their soft, limp penises do not respond to each other's
fondling, and sex is an exercise in futility.
Cantonese

Kai daih () - literally meaning "sworn / blood / adopted brother" ; younger male
homosexual lover; a male prostitute.
B lei () - Cantonese version of the Mandarin "b li" (see above); a gay man.
Gi () - Cantonese version of the English word "gay".
Gi lu () - a gay person / fellow
Gau gi ()- to indulge in homosexuality.
S ft gwi () - literally meaning "backside devil"; derogatory term for a gay man.

Thng seng lihn () - Cantonese version of the Mandarin "tng xng lan zhe".

Indian
Tamil

Kiddi - an effeminate male.

Sutthadi - a male prositute.
Akkaa - literally meaning 'older sister' but used as slang for transwomen.
Ohrinapunarchiyaalar - recently-coined scientific word for 'homosexual', used in newspapers
and documentaries. It literally means 'person who has intercourse with a similar kind'.
Malayalam
Telugu
Kannada
Hindi

Amraprasand - scientific word for homosexual.

Hijra - a member of the "third gender" in India. Very uncommon in Singapore.
Maasti- sexual play between men who are not necessarily homosexual, mainly to relieve sexual
tension.
Urdu

Samlaingik- scientific word for homosexual.

Sex
Almost all words listed here are slang, and many are vulgar. See also Love, Dating and
Relationships, Slang, Swearing, Body, and STDs.
asshole
bisexual
blow job
boobs
breasts
butch

si an (anus) Lit. shit eye/hole

lam l dou dzUng yi (to like both men and women)
ts siu Lit. play the flute
bo Lit. balls
hUng
lam y n po (masculine woman)

carpet muncher

mo d u fu Lit. to grind tofu (which produces liquid,

graphic imagery for lesbian sex)
come
se ye Lit. shoot stuff

se dzIng Lit. shoot energy

(bei y n ) tou
condom
yi dzon hou dze
crossdresser

crossdress
fan tsn (special term used only for movie or TV actors, e.g.
Mrs. Doubtfire)
cum
dzIng yIk (sperm) Lit. energy juice

cunt
h i
dick
l n
dirty-minded
ham s p Lit. salty and wet

horny bastard
ham s p lou
ban dzon won d i (woman who dresses as a man for a
drag king
performance)
ban dzon won h u
drag queen

dyke
gei po
fag
sei gei lou (derogatory)

flat-chested chick
fei gei tsng Lit. airport
fuck
bok ye

gay
gei

gay guy
gei lou

tUng dzi Lit. comrade (term used among gays)

to be gay
gau gei

go down on
sIk k tiu h i Lit. eat her cunt (cunnilingus)

grope
gau
hard on
tse kei Lit. raised flag

hickey
ga lei gai Lit. curry chicken
hooker
g i Lit. chicken

da fei gei Lit. to shoot airplaines (cocking motion of

jerk off

early anti-aircraft artillery)

lesbian
gei po
lick
lem
make love
dzou oi

nibble
au
orgasm
gou tsiu Lit. high tide

porn
sam k p ye

porno mag
ham s Lit. salty book

porno movie
ham pin
Lit. salty movie
sam k p pin
Lit. third grade movie (adult rating)

to surf for porn

t i ham mon (Internet)
prostitute, female
g i Lit. chicken

prostitute, male
ap Lit. duck

pussy
sex
have sex with
(her)
sex fiend
she-male
entertainer
sissy
sleep together
straight
testicles
tits
transgendered
transsexual
virgin

h i

tUng (k ) dzou

Lit. do it with her

bin tai (negative connotation)

y n yiu (often considered offensive)

la yIng (effeminate man)

sng tson Lit. go to bed

gou yn
bo Lit. balls
kwa sIng
bin sIng y n
ts l (female)
ts lam (male)

Swearing

See also Sex and Slang.

diu

fuck

diu l n

fucking

ga tsan

asshole (person)

h sei la
lei

drop dead; go to hell

h m ga tsan

curse on your whole famiy

l n

fucking (adjective or infix)

pUk gai

Lit. go die

asshole, shithead (person) (MW: tiu )

the street
fuck! (curse)
go to hell (verb)

sei

damn (adjective) Lit. death

sei bat po damn bitch

Lit. fall down on

sei y n t u
ts u h i

jerk

Lit. dead man's skull

fucking cunt (derogatory for woman)

Lit. smelly cunt

Examples
lei gon m t l n ye a ?

what the fuck are you

talking about?

diu lei lou mou

diu lei pUk gai lou mou ts u h i

h m ga tsan

fuck your mother

(too horrible to translate)

Slang

See also Swearing, Sex and Idioms.

dzen
dzen fo
dz pa
gau si gw n
g m
gw i
gw i lou
gw i dz i
gw i mui
gw i po
lou
l
po
a po
bat po
si tou po
s po
ts i
w n t n

hot, beautiful; good, great!

great merchandise
ugly chick (MW: fai ) Lit. pork chop
trouble-maker
well...
foreign, white Lit. ghost
white guy, foreigner
white boy
white girl
white lady
guy (suffix)
chick (MW: tiu )
lady
ma'am (old lady)
bitch, nosy woman
boss lady
damn woman (wife)
stupid, idiot, loser
used, crumpled Kleenex Lit. Wonton noodle

The five most common vulgar words in Cantonese profanity are diu (), gau (), lan (),
tsat () and hai (), where the first literally means fuck, while the rest are sexual organs of
either gender.[1] They are sometimes collectively known as the "outstanding five in Cantonese"
().[2] These five words are generally offensive and give rise to a variety of
euphemisms. Similar to the seven dirty words in the USA, these five words are forbidden and
bleep-censored on Hong Kong broadcast television. Other curse phrases, such as puk gai ()
and ham gaa caan (), are also common.

Main article: Diu (Cantonese)

The written form of diu commonly seen in Hong Kong

Diu (traditional Chinese: or ; Jyutping: diu2), literally meaning fuck, is a common but
grossly vulgar profanity in Cantonese. In a manner similar to the English word fuck, diu
expresses dismay, disgrace, and disapproval. Examples of expressions include diu nei! (
or , fuck you!), diu nei lo mo! ( or , fuck your old mother). The latter
one is particularly considered as grossly offensive.
The word diu was originally a noun meaning the penis and evolved as a verb.[3] Regarded as a
grossly vulgar word in Cantonese, the word has gained a new meaning in Taiwan to refer to
"cool". In this context, the mandarin pronunciation may not be censored on TV broadcasts but
the original Cantonese pronunciation is still a taboo.
Certain euphemisms exist, including siu () (small/little), tsiu (), yiu () and tiu ().[4]
Gau (traditional Chinese: ; Jyutping: gau1), sometimes wrongly written as (haau1) despite
different pronunciations.[5], is a vulgar Cantonese word which literally means a cock or cocky.[1]

A common phrase ngong gau () is an adjective that may be loosely translated as a

"dumbass".[6] Cantonese phrase mo lei tau gau () that means "makes no sense" was cut
to mo lei tau to avoid the sound gau.[5] Similar to fucking in English, this word is usually used as
an adverb. Compare this:

(crazy)

(fucking crazy)

Two common euphemisms gau, which only differ in the tone, include (nine) and (dog, but
it may change the original "dumbass" meaning into "cunning" instead).
In Cantonese lan (traditional Chinese: ; Jyutping: lan2), sometimes idiomatically written as
lun, is another vulgar word that means penis.[1]. Similar to gau, this word is also usually used as
an adverb.
lan yeung () can be loosely translated as "dickface".[7]
Euphemism includes laan (lazy) or nang (able to).
In Cantonese, Tsat (traditional Chinese: ; Jyutping: cat6), sometimes idiomatically written as
, is a vulgar word for an erect penis. Its American English equivalent is "boner". Ban tsat (
) (stupid dick) is a more common phrase among others. However, it is usually used as a vulgar
adjective especially among the youth. It means "ugly" or "shameful".
Tsat tau () can be loosely translated as "dickhead".
A common euphemism is (seven), which only differs in the tone. As a result, some people
would try not to order seven dishes in a single meal to avoid the embarrassing meaning of
"eating a dick". Other euphemisms include tsaat (to brush) and tsaak (thieves). As a result,
thieves that are easily caught by the police are often intentionally describe as ban tsaak (stupid
thieves) in the newspaper to achieve the humorous effects from the phrase ban tsat.
In Cantonese hai (traditional Chinese: or ; Jyutping: hai1) is a common vulgar word that
literally means vulva or vagina. The English equivalent is "cunt". is more common on the
mainland of China, with being used in Hong Kong and Macao. The Chinese character
consists of two parts: the upper part is that means "body" while the bottom part means "a
hole". The Chinese character thus literally means a "hole at the bottom of the body".[1] Two
common phrases include so hai (silly cunt) and cau hai (stinking cunt).
A common euphemism is sai (west). The phrase sai hau sai min (west mouths and
west faces) is often used to describe women who have an impolite look. Some words that are

associated with western culture such as sai yan (Westerners) may become Cantonese jokes
that base on the ambiguity of these vocabularies. Other euphemisms haai include (shoes) and
(crabs). As a result, crabs are sometimes intentionally linked with other words such as
stinking and water to achieve some vagina-related humorous effects.
The word hai can also mean total failure as in the phrase hai saai (). The Chinese character
means "to expose to the sun", but in Cantonese it is also used as a verbal particle to stress the
action.[8] To further stress the failure, sometimes the phrase hai gau saai is used (the word gau
that means penis is put in between the original phrase). Since this phrase is highly offensive (it
consists two of the five vulgar words), a euphemism or xiehouyu, a kind of Chinese "proverb", is
sometimes used. As in a normal xiehouyu, it consists of two elements: the former segment
presents a scenario while the latter provides the rationale thereof. One would often only state the
first part, expecting the listener to know the second. The first part is "a man and a woman having
a sunbath (naked)" (). Since the penis and vagina are both exposed to the sun, the
second part is hai gau saai () a pun for total failure.[8] Therefore, if one wants to say
that something is a total failure, she only has to say , and the listener will understand
the intended meaning.
Mnemonics for these five vulgar words are a five-word sentence siu gau laan tsaat
haai (little dog (is) lazy (to) polish shoes).
The written form of puk gai commonly seen in Hong Kong.

Puk gai (traditional Chinese: ; Cantonese Yale: puk1 gaai1) literally means "falling onto
street", which is a common curse phrase in Cantonese that may be translated into English as
"drop dead". Originally it meant that when you die, your body will rot on the street because all
your family and friends have left you and no one cares for you. It is sometimes used as a noun to
refer to an annoying person that roughly means a "prick". The phrase can also be used in daily
life under a variety of situations to express annoyance, disgrace or other emotions.[9] Since the
phrase does not involve any sexual organs or reference to sex, some argue that it should not be
considered as profanity.[10] Nevertheless, "PK" is often used as a euphemism for the phrase.[11]
The written form can be seen on graffiti in Hong Kong and other places in Guangdong, China.
In Southeast Asia, the meaning of the phrase has evolved and it is no longer a profanity, and is
usually taken to mean "go bankrupt". The term is even used in a colloquial sense by Malaysian
Malays, in which case it is usually rendered as "pokai".
Ham6 gaa1 caan2 (traditional Chinese: ; Jyutping: ham6 gaa1 caan2) is another common
curse phrase in Cantonese that literally means "may your whole family be dead".[9] The first
character is sometimes written as , mainly because in speech is not said with its dictionary
pronunciation haam4, but ham6. Interestingly, caan means a shovel or to shovel, which
possibly relates to a funeral and ultimately to the meaning of death. Like puk gai, the phrase can

both be used to mean "prick" or to express annoyance, but be wary for many find "Haam gaa
caan" much more offensive than "puk gai".[9]
Ham gaa ling is a common variant but ling (to take/carry something) has little logical
relations with the original phrase. Adding the words ham gaa (whole family) in front of a bless
can actually reverse the meaning. For example, common phrases like ham gaa fu gwai
(may the whole family be rich) or ham gaa cheung (may the whole family be fortunate)
are often understood as "someone is suffering from big problems". As a result, the appropriate
word for "the whole family" is chuen gaa to avoid any negative meanings. More recently, a
variant of the phrase ham kau caan has escalated the meaning from the family level to
the globe level in order to describe the extent of global problems such as the recent financial
crisis in the world.
Mnemonics for these two phrases are a four-word sentence ham gaa puk gai, which
means 'whole family fall down on the street'.