Table of Contents
→ Animals
→ Heart
→ Slang
→ Numbers
是藥三分毒 Shì yào sān fēn dú – Every medicine has 3 part poison / has its side effect. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
绿茶 Lǜ chá – Green tea (bitch) 🍵 → Derogatory term directed at girls who pretend to be innocent and charming but is actually manipulative. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
黑蓮花 Hei lian hua – Black Lotus → (Grey) "Villains", openly dark and clever [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
中央空調 Zhong yang kong tiao – Central AC → Typically are men who appear kind and give special attention to multiple people without clear romantic intent, which leads to misunderstanding and jealousy among the ladies. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
中央空調 Zhong yang kong tiao – Central AC → Typically are men who appear kind and give special attention to multiple people without clear romantic intent, which leads to misunderstanding and jealousy among the ladies. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
狗咬呂洞賓，不識好人心 – A dog bites Lv Dong Bin, not knowing how kind he is. ("Lv Dong Bin" is a scholarly, clever man with a genuine desire to help people, but a dog bites him.) [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
纏纏綿綿 Chán chán mián mián – To wrap around continuously. In a romantic context, it suggests a bond that's hard to break and a relationship full of tenderness like something that tugs at the heart. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
*For some of these, do notice how the phrases sound. The rhymes make them sound better in Chinese which is hard to convey through English translations.
白頭偕老 Bái tóu xié lǎo – Live to an old age in conjugal bliss. The direct translation is “white head” (白頭) and growing old together (偕老). Sometimes drama will have a snow scene to create artificial white hair to make this idiom come true. [My Fantastic Mrs. Cat, Mr. Fox and Miss Rose, A Dream of Splendour, Back From the Brink]
百年好合 Bǎi nián hǎo hé – May you live a long and happy life together. This is a wedding blessing and is why Traditional Chinese weddings will have 百合 white lily (edible). [A Romance of the Little Forest]
連年生子 Lián nián shēng zǐ – To have children for successive years. This is a wedding blessing and is why Traditional Chinese weddings will have 蓮子 (Liánzǐ) lotus seeds. [A Romance of the Little Forest]早生貴子 Zǎo shēng guì zǐ – Give birth to a child soon. This is a wedding blessing and is why Traditional Chinese weddings will have hongzao (red dates), huasheng (peanuts), guiyuan (longan fruit), and lianzi (lotus seed). [Decreed by Fate]
不撞南牆不回頭 Bù zhuàng nán qiáng bù huí tóu – Stubborn / Not looking back until hitting the south walls. [Delicious Romance]
不離不棄 Bù lì bù qì – To not leave and to not abandon / To standby someone, never to leave him/her. [My Sassy Princess]
柴米油鹽 Chái mǐ yóu yán – Firewood, rice, oil, and salt → Life’s daily necessities (nothing out of the ordinary). [Dear Diary]
纏纏綿綿 Chán chán mián mián – To wrap around continuously. In a romantic context, it suggests a bond that's hard to break and a relationship full of tenderness like something that tugs at the heart. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
醜媳婦早晚也得見公婆 Chǒu xí fù zǎo wǎn yě dé jiàn gōng pó – Ugly daughter-in-law must sooner or later meet her parent-in-laws. Figuratively: it’s something you cannot avoid forever. [A Dream of Splendour]
此時無聲胜有聲 Cǐ shí wú shēng shèng yǒu shēng – At this precise moment, no sound surpasses sound (because that’s when the sound of the heart is clearest). [My Sassy Princess (Ep12)]
聰明反被聰明誤 Cōng míng fǎn bèi cōng míng wù – A clever person may become the victim of his own ingenuity / You’re so sharp, you’ll cut yourself. [The Story of Ming Lan]
打草驚蛇 Dǎ cǎo jīng shé – Beat the grass to scare the snake / To inadvertently alert an enemy. [The Fight]
大事化小小事化了 Dà shì huà xiǎo xiǎo shì huà liǎo – Turn big problems into small problems and small problems into no problems. [The Autumn Ballad]
刀子嘴，豆腐心 Dāo zi zuǐ, dòu fu xīn – Mouth sharp like knives; heart soft like tofu. Usually used to describe mothers.
釜底抽薪 Fǔ dǐ chōu xīn – Removing the firewood from the cauldron / Taking drastic measures to deal with a drastic situation. [The Story of Ming Lan]
畫龍點睛 Huà lóng diǎn jīng – To paint a dragon and dot in the eyes / To add the crucial point that brings the subject to life / A few words to cinch the point. [Reset (In-Depth Discussion)]
見錢眼開 Jiàn qián yǎn kāi – To open one’s eyes wide at the sight of profit / Thinking nothing but personal gains. [Legally Romance]
薑還是老的辣 Jiāng hái shì lǎo de là – The ginger gets spicier as it gets older / The older, the wiser. [The Fight]
積少成多 Jī shǎo chéng duō – Many little things add up to something great / Many little drops make an ocean. [Snowy Night Timeless Love]
近朱者赤近墨者黑 Jìn zhū zhě chì jìn mò zhě hēi – Those who handle cinnabar are stained red; those who work with ink are stained black. You are the product of your environment. [A Romance of the Little Forest, The Story of Ming Lan, Back From the Brink (Ep24)]
近水樓台先得月 Jìn shuǐ lóu tái xiān dé yuè – The pavilion closest to the water enjoys the moonlight first / Benefiting from intimacy with an influential person. [A Romance of the Little Forest]
兩肋插刀 Liǎng lèi chā dāo – To attach great importance to friendship, up to the point of being able to sacrifice oneself for it. (Literal: Inserting knives on both sides of the rib usually for a friend). [Jiajia’s Lovely Journey]
兩情若是久長時，又豈在朝朝暮暮 – As long as two love each other long enough, why should they be greedy from dusk to dawn? (A line from Fairy of the Magpie Bridge) [Vacation of Love 2 (Ep21)]
蘿蔔青菜，各有所愛 Luó bo qīng cài, gè yǒu suǒ ài – To each their own. Literal: Radishes and cabbages, each have their fans [Delicious Romance]
逆天改命 Nì tiān gǎi mìng – Defy the natural order to change fate. [Love Between Fairy and Devil (Ep35)]
披荊斬棘 Pī jīng zhǎn jí – Cut through thistle and thorns / Overcome all obstacles along the way. [The Story of Ming Lan]
如影隨形 Rú yǐng suí xíng – As the shadow follows the body / To follow relentlessly. [My Sassy Princess]
色令智昏 Sè lìng zhì hūn – To lose one’s head over lust / sex-crazy [Warm on a Cold Night]
生米煮成熟饭 Shēng mǐ zhǔ chéng shú fàn – The raw rice is now cooked. You cannot undo cooked rice back to raw rice. What's done is done and cannot be changed. Usually (not always!) refers to sex and the loss of virginity. [The Romance of Tiger and Rose, The Story of Ming Lan, The Story of Xing Fu]
生死契闊 與子成說: 執子之手 與子偕老 Shēng sǐ qiè kuò yǔ zǐ chéng shuō: Zhí zǐ zhī shǒu yǔ zi xié lǎo – Alive or dead, together or apart, I have a promise with you ; I’ll hold your hand and grow old with you. (A poem) [The Sword and the Brocade, A Love So Romantic, My Sassy Princess]
省油的燈 Shěng yóu de dēng – A candle that saves wax. Usually used in negation to describe someone who isn’t easy to deal with (a candle that wastes a lot of wax). [The Story of Ming Lan]
是藥三分毒 Shì yào sān fēn dú – Every medicine has 3 part poison / has its side effect. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
柿子挑軟的捏 Shì zi tiāo ruǎn de niē – It's the soft persimmons that people choose to squeeze / bullies pick soft targets [Joy of Life]
萬死而不辭 Wàn sǐ bù cí – Ten thousand deaths will not prevent me / Ready to risk life and limb to help [The Princess Royal]
五十步笑百步 Wǔ shí bù xiào bǎi bù – The one who has retreated 50 steps laughs at the one who has retreated 100 steps / The pot calls the kettle black. [My Sassy Princess]
相 Xiāng – Each other / mutually / appearance / portrait
夫妻相 Fū qī xiāng – Sharing common facial traits that show predestination to be married together. [Love Like the Galaxy (Ep26)]相依為命 Xiāng yī wéi mìng – A mutual dependence for life. [Jiajia’s Lovely Journey]
以身相許 Yǐ shēn xiāng xǔ – Devote his/her life to that person as a repayment. It can be taken literally as paying with the body (i.e. being his/her wife/husband). [A Dream of Splendour,
A Romance of the Little Forest]
日久生情 Rì jiǔ shēng qíng – Fall in love gradually / Familiarity breeds fondness
一個唱紅臉，一個唱白臉 – One plays the villain and the other plays a hero. The literal translation: “One sings red face, and one sings white face.” The idiom originated from Beijing Opera (red face / white face). [Warm on a Cold Night]
一眼萬年 Yī yǎn wàn nián – One glance (一眼), and it feels like thousands of years (萬年). [Love Like the Galaxy: Ling Bu Yi uses this expression to describe how he fell in love with Cheng Shao Shang. Just one glance and he felt like he loved her for eternity. (Ep38)]
英雄難過美人關 Yīng xióng nán guò měi rén guān – Even heroes have a weakness for the charms of a beauty. [A Romance of the Little Forest]
美人计 Měi rén jì – A honey trap: using something beautiful to trap your prey. Usually applies to a beautiful woman seducing a male. [A Romance of the Little Forest]
欲擒故縱 Yù qín gù zòng – In order to capture, one must let loose / To loosen the reins only to grasp them better [The Princess Royal]
戰戰兢兢 Zhàn zhàn jīng jīng – To advance in fear and trepidation (戰 = Battle; 兢 = Fearful). [The Story of Ming Lan]
站著說話不腰疼 Zhàn zhe shuō huà bù yāo téng – It doesn’t hurt your waist when you talk / Less talk, more action. [Reset (In-Depth Discussion)]
只見樹木不見森林 Zhǐ jiàn shù mù bù jiàn sēn lín – One cannot see the forest for the tree / Only able to see the details but not the bigger picture. [Shining for One Thing (In-Depth Discussion)]
墜入愛河 Zhuì rù ài hé – To fall into the river of love. [Reset (In-Depth Discussion)]
Animals
Dog 狗 (gǒu)狗咬呂洞賓，不識好人心 – A dog bites Lv Dong Bin, not knowing how kind he is. ("Lv Dong Bin" is a scholarly, clever man with a genuine desire to help people, but a dog bites him.) [The Princess Royal, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
Chicken 雞 (jī)
嫁雞隨雞，嫁狗隨狗 Jià jī suí jī, jià gǒu suí gǒu – If you marry a chicken follow the chicken, if you marry a dog follow the dog. [A Dream of Splendour]
偷雞摸狗 Tōu jī mō gǒu – Petty thief. Literal: To imitate the dog and steal chicken. Figuratively, this also means to dally with women and to have affairs. [A Dream of Splendour]小肚雞腸 Xiǎo dù jī cháng – Small belly, chicken’s gut → Narrow-minded
鳥盡弓藏 niǎo jìn gōng cáng – The birds are over, the bow is put away兔死狗烹 tù sǐ gǒu pēng – To boil the hound once it caught the rabbit過河拆橋 guò hé chāi qiáo – To destroy the bridge after crossing the river
念念不忘 Niàn niàn bù wàng – To miss and yearn and to never forget. There is technically 心 xīn in this phrase. Notice how most of the characters contain 心 underneath. To yearn and to (never) forget requires the heart and so this phrase contains a lot of love. [Love Between Fairy and Devil (Ep35)]
人心不足蛇吞象 Rén xīn bùzú shé tūn xiàng – A man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. [The Story of Ming Lan]
心尖 Xīn jiān – Bottom tip of the heart / innermost feelings / my darling
心疼 Xīn téng – Often translated as “in pain/hurt”. To be more exact, 心疼 means the heart (心) is in pain (疼). The heart can only be in pain if one loves dearly. It’s an endearing term.
一心二用 Yī xīn èr yòng – One heart; two uses → To divide one’s heart/attention. [Love Like the Galaxy (Ep34)]
壁咚 Bì dōng – Wall-bang (*bang* is a sound). This is a loan term from Japanese kabedon. It’s the wall slam move that usually male leads do to female leads. The term has evolved and now anything can be -donged and anyone can do the -dong-ing.
彩蛋 Cǎi dàn – Easter egg (hidden features) / Post-credit scenes [The Imperial Coroner]
大豬蹄子 Dà zhū tí zi – Big Pig’s Foot. This refers to men who are jerks, men who are unfaithful and fickle; they'll sweet talk girls and then once they become a couple, they turn cold. This slang has become a general complaint to men’s shortcomings. [Story of Yanxi Palace: Emperor Qianlong is an example]
狗 Gǒu – Dog
撒狗粮 Gǒu liáng – Scatter dog food → Public display of affection狗血 Gǒu xuè – Dog blood → Melodramatic (Korean equivalent is makjang)狗皮膏藥 Gǒu pí gāo yao – Dogskin plaster → Sham goods (e.g. quack medication)
今晚月色真美 Jīn wǎn yuè sè zhēn měi – The moon is beautiful, isn’t it? This is a phrase from Japanese writer, Natsuke Soseki. Tsuki ga kirei desu ne? The implied meaning is: “I love you”. [Mr. BAD, Out of Court, The Legend of ShenLi]
經濟適用男 Jīng jì shì yòng nán – Economical Husband. It’s a descriptor for a good, honest, diligent man who is a good husband material. [Rising Lady (Read more in Ep12)]
酒肉朋友 Jiǔ ròu péng yǒu – Alcohol and meat friends → Drinking buddies. They’re friends who will ditch you in times of difficulties. [Delicious Romance]
白蓮花 Bái lián huā – White Lotus 💮 → Derogatory term directed at girls who are pure but their hearts are dark. Similar to Green Tea Bitch. [Delicious Romance]
黑蓮花 Hei lian hua – Black Lotus ⚫️→ (Grey) "Villains", openly dark and clever [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
傻白甜 Shǎ bái tián – Foolish/stupid, pure/white, sweet. This is a derogatory term to describe most romcom FLs. [Delicious Romance]
修羅場 Xiū luó chǎng – Bloodshed. This is a Japanese loan word Shuraba. [Vacation of Love 2]
一哭二鬧三上吊 Yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào – The three steps in throwing a tantrum: 1) cry, 2) quarrel, and 3) hang oneself. One cry, two troubles, three hangs. (Hanging oneself is not meant to be taken literally)
中央空調 Zhong yang kong tiao – Central AC → Typically are men who appear kind and give special attention to multiple people without clear romantic intent, which leads to misunderstanding and jealousy among the ladies. [Love Game in Eastern Fantasy]
Numbers
250 二百五 Èr bǎi wǔ – Idiot. Ancient Chinese counted in taels to measure silver. 500 taels is one unit that can be sealed into a bill. 250, being only half, is called 半吊子 (bàn diào zi), meaning Half-hanging. 半吊子 also means “A tactless and impulsive person (because only half the brain is there). [Falling Into You, Legally Romance]
520 五二零 Wǔ 'èr líng – I love you. Sounds similar to “I love you” 我愛你 (Wǒ ài nǐ). [You Are My Glory, I Don’t Want to be Friends With You]
666 Liù liù liù – Smooth / Perfect / Awesome. (It sounds like 溜 which means smooth and stealth). [New Life Begins]
本公子 Běn gōng zǐ – First-person pronoun for a young man of nobility. Usually used in costume dramas. [Mr. BAD: Xiao Wu Di]
大魔頭 Da mo tou vs. 大木頭 Da mu tou – Big Devil (Head) vs. Big Wooden Head. [Love Between Fairy and Devil: FL wants to call the ML a Big Bad Devil, but cutely changes one word and it becomes a harmless nickname “Big Wooden Head”. (Ep14)]
苦肉計 Kǔ ròu jì – The trick of injuring oneself to gain the enemy’s confidence. [Love Like the Galaxy (Ep38), A Dream of Splendour]
娃娃脸 Wá wá liǎn – Baby-face (usually refers to an adult)娃娃親 Wá wa qīn – A promise to marry as kids. Usually decided (jokingly) by their parents. [Our Secret]
萬人迷 Wàn rén mí – A heartthrob (a person who attracts a great number of people). [Jiajia’s Lovely Journey]
小心眼 Xiǎo xīn yǎn – Small heart eyes → Petty / Narrow-sightedminded
榆木腦袋 Yú mù nǎo dai – Thick skull (meaning, no brain). Literal: a brain with a membrane made of wood. [The Autumn Ballad]
鴛鴦 Yuān yāng – Mandarin duck. When used to describe a couple, it means “happily married couple”. It is also a type of beverage you can order at HK style cafes, harmoniously combining coffee and HK milk tea. [Love Like the Galaxy (Ep41)]
Flower Meanings
*Compilation of flower meanings began in October 2022.
Corn poppies 虞美人 Yú měi rén – Separation from life and death. However, different colours have different meanings. Pink is enchanting and luxurious. Purple is comforting and forgetting. History: Yu Mei Ren's name came from Consort Yu, wife of warlord Xiang Yu. It directly translates to “Yu the Beauty” Their romance has been made into plays: Consort Yu committed suicide after Xiang Yu’s death when their land has been conquered. She killed herself with his sword. It is said that in the place where she died, corn poppies grew. Usages: Opium can be extracted from poppies. They’re quite “addictive” to say the least. [A Romance of the Little Forest]
Chrysanthemums and white lilies 菊花 & 百合 Jú huā & bǎi hé – Stable and long-lasting love BUT chrysanthemums and white flowers in general are associated with death [New Life Begins]
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