Firefly's Chinese Swear Words
So if you, like me, have been watching the DVDs of Firefly lately, and have been wondering what the actual translations of the Chinese curses used by the cast are, well, wonder no more.
If you actually like this kind of stuff, well, you're probably right up there with the people who use Klingon to swear at their mommas. But hey, I'm going to learn a couple of these, so that I can use them instead of my more mundane curses! I mean, why settle for a simple "Crap!" when you can say "Da-shiong bao-jah-shr duh la-doo-tze!" (Explosive diarrhea of an elephant) instead?
(Hey! You! Chinese Language Purist about to rip me a new one because you can't figure out what is said above! Why not read the site -- linked above as "wonder no more" -- before getting on my case? I'm just the messenger, and have absolutely zero interest in learning how to do anything in Chinese other than mutter unintelligible curses.)
Serenity...
Heh, with the recent release of Serenity, this page is getting hammered! And it's just a link to the page that has the info, not the source of the info itself...
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Matthew P. Barnson
well...
Well, Ai ya, hwai leh! That's great!
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Visit my blog, eh!
The Murphy Maphia
You can't even [expletive deleted] use
You can't even [expletive deleted] use proper pinyin to write the words? [expletive deleted] idiot. People who actually have taken the [expletive deleted] time the study Chinese won't be able to figure out what your [expletive deleted] is trying to write. ...[expletive deleted].
Wow, You're Cool
I know the topic is curse words, but you need to clean up your language. Check out the site and realize we talk like civilized folks around here.
Dropping f-bombs isn't a way to get your point across, nor the a-hole comment at the end. All it shows is you can't control your temper or language.
My $.02
Weed
Commentary
I think it's an interesting social commentary that the person who's castigating me for my inability to write Chinese is unable to write a coherent sentence in English himself. Really, I don't mind getting tongue-lashings for my language skills by someone without any.
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Matthew P. Barnson
I'm Glad
I'm glad you did the needful and deleted his expletives ;)
My $.02
Weed
Alot of the curses are in
Alot of the curses are in mandarin chinese, but I think I have heard a few in cantonese..
you can find a few here
Cool, thanks!
Cool, thanks for the follow-up information!
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Matthew P. Barnson
Chinese swear words
If you are looking to learn how to swear in Chinese, My friends and I have
put together a Chinese Swear Words Flashcard Software. You can
down load it from our website.
http://www.baianed.com/index.html
If you want to add a link to our page, here are a bunch of link Images I created.
http://www.baianed.com/page/page/3575137.htm
Hope this helps.
-Brian
Useful!
See, now that's a useful comment! What could be more useful than studying Chinese so that you can swear in the language more effectively?
Then again, if you're involved in any manufacturing or textiles business, Chinese is rapidly becoming a lingua franca to get it done for a reasonable cost...
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Matthew P. Barnson
A good book to get if you're into cursing
Hi,
Great idea to transcribe the curses! I wanted to let you know of a good book called _Outrageous Chinese: A Guide to Chinese Street Language_ and it's by James J. Wang. It has a variety of curse words as well as warnings about homophones -- how to avoid inadvertently saying something inappropriate.
Oh -- and for the person who's irate about the pinyin -- even though that's the most modern method of transliteration, it's not the only one, and anyone who's studied Chinese and pinyin for any length of time would be able to figure it out. Try thinking instead of swearing.
Testify!
Mr/Ms Anonymous here speaks for all speakers and students of Chinese. You really need your pinyin, buddy. In Chinese, tones change the meaning of a word, not just the emphasis. Using the four tones of Mandarin, respectively, "ma" can mean "mother," "hemp," "horse," and "to curse". Also, if you believe "ma" without a designated tone to be a tone of its own, then "ma" is a particle indicating a question.
In short, you need to do your research.
Why are you telling me this?
Umm, dude/dudette, why are you telling me this? I just found this nifty site which explains the meaning of the various Chinese swear phrases found in Firefly. The point is to entertain those who have watched the US show and would like to know what those phrases mean... not the other way around.
Regardless, they've improved the site in the YEARS since I posted this original entry. I've updated this ancient blog entry to reflect the sensibilities of someone too lazy to bother clicking a link to figure out what I'm talking about.
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Matthew P. Barnson
Say it aint so.. .
/start sarcasm
Say it aint so... Things have changed in 2 years ?
/end sarcasm
FUNNIEST SITE ON THE PLANET!!
Good lord, there are a lot of random people chiming in on old posts.
I did my research.. by watching more Firefly. All hail Whedon.
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website
Music, Acting, and More!
www.timpane.com
Mm, Firefly!
Christy bought me the series for Christmas. Or did she buy it for her? Anyway, it's unopened down in the basement... Time to turn on the subtitles, pop some popcorn, and do some "research"!
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Matthew P. Barnson
Swearing in Chinese Software
Hey! I worked on Serenity! My friends and I got together and made a Software for Learning Chinese. Here is the Swearing One.
Insult away! Impress your friends, surprise your enemies, get slapped, or beaten up. It's now your choice how far to take it.
Includes several memory games to hone your ability to recognize the Characters, and to think in Chinese,
again choosing the interface you'd like.
Plus! Our Software can be downloaded and used Instantly! No Waiting! Pay, Download, Study. It's that easy.
My english is poor as a
My english is poor as a pity. It isn't my native language, but it's intresting!
Chinese curse words
So, let me get this straight, you're comparing a fondness for the study of a language spoken by over a billion people to a fondness for the study of Klingon, a fake language spoken by 20 people? That, sir, is unbelievably capricious of you.
Uhh, actually...
I was comparing the interest in learning the obscure, fictional Chinese curses used on a short-lived television series to learning a few curses in a fictional language on another television series. So yeah, I stand by what I said as neither impulsive nor irrational. It is the interest in space-drama television minutiae which is the basis for comparison, you sophomoric boob.
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Matthew P. Barnson
heh..
you said boob
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website
Music, Acting, and More!
www.timpane.com
you guys need a Chinese dictionary
this one, www.nciku.com, is excellent, even when you don't know how to input the Chinese character, you can use its Chinese handwriting recognition feature, cool!
Why do people take this seriously?
Why on earth do people take this page seriously and solemnly intone "you guys need a Chinese dictionary"? It's a discussion regarding someone else's now-defunct web site that purports to translate made-up Chinese curses in an imaginary culture of space-faring cowboys on a short-lived television show...
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Matthew P. Barnson
Solemnly Intone..
I solemnly intone my love of Joss.
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website
Music, Acting, and More!
www.timpane.com
cursing
I'm good with English curses. I've been practicing them so long, I've gotten really good at them.
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Visit my blog, eh!
The Murphy Maphia