Go Full Savage: 12 Examples of Animal Related Chinese Slang

Names of animals are used in languages throughout the world to conjure impressions of personality and mean other, usually derogatory, things. This is no different in Chinese. These poor little creatures remain ignorant of how humans slander them and can do nothing more than to live on in hope of an animal uprising or the development of speech, at which point mankind is undoubtedly f**ked. Until then however, go wild, run free, and keep an ear out for these phrases, which if directed at you, might turn you full savage.

Disclaimer: We hope this piece is both culturally insightful and linguistically instructional, and although we use pictures of cute little puppies, birdies, bunnies, and duckies, we still want to warn off sensitive readers that the material below this frustrated-looking mutt doesn't take your human emotions into consideration.

狗 (gou)

In Chinese, the word dog invokes the image of a stupid, flea-bitten mutt sitting outside of a dry and desolate rural yard, that follows any halfwit in the village who gives it food. This disparaging and precise image, alludes to the person that it is used towards as a lapdog-like, petty, money-driven, snobbish and contemptible individual who would do morally despicable things just for a small sum of money or gain.

Literally: dog

Informal: a lapdog; a petty, money-driven, snobbish, and contemptible person who would have no issue getting ahead at others' expense

Sample sentence: 就为了这点钱？你是他的狗吗？Jiu wei le zhe dian qian? Ni shi ta de gou ma? Are you his lapdog? Doing all this for this for just a small amount of money?

日了狗了 (ri le gou le)

Literally: f**ked a dog

Informal: An exclamation uttered when something has gone wrong in an unexpected way; a rough equivalent of "goddammit!" or "it's all gone to shit!"

Sample sentence: 倒车撞树上了，真他妈日了狗了! Dao che zhuang shu shang le, zhen ta ma ri le gou le! I was distracted by thoughts of lunch and I backed my car directly into a tree! F**ked a dog! (It's all gone to shit!)

狗日的 (gou ri de)

Literally: son of a b*tch

Informal: as above

Sample sentence: 狗日的！滚！Gou ri de! Gun! You son of a b*tch! Get out!

猪 (zhu)

In English a pig or swine refers to a greedy, dirty, and unpleasant person. While in Chinese, it is reserved for an astonishingly stupid fool. There was a huge scandal in China a few years ago when elementary school kids were apparently traumatized after being called "pigs" by their teacher. The word was later banned in schools by the Ministry of Education.

Literally: pig

Informal: a stupid person, idiot

Sample sentence: 这都不会算？你是猪吗？Zhe dou bu hui suan? Ni shi zhu ma? You can’t even do this simple sum? You pig!

小鹿乱撞 (xiao lu luan zhuang)

In Chinese people say “there’s a little deer jumping in my heart,” similarly to how in English people say “there are butterflies in the stomach.” The phrase catches the feeling of one's heart beating vehemently out of excitement and anxiety, which is usually caused by coming across the person whom you have a crush on, or about whom you often fantasize.

Literally: jumping little deer

Informal: being anxious and excited due to strong, usually romantic, emotions

Sample sentence: 天啊他约我出去吃饭了！小鹿乱撞！Tian a ta yue wo chu qu chi fan le! Xiao lu luan zhuang! OMG, he asked me out! It feels like a deer is jumping in my heart!

小白兔 (xiao bai tu)

Literally: little white bunnies

Informal: breasts

When to use it: very popular in sex talks and erotica novels

Sample sentence: 她胸前那一对小白兔好漂亮。Ta xiong qian na yi dui xiao bai tu hao piao liang. She has gorgeous breasts (like little white bunnies).

To ensure that you're never called a bad animal name, see our full list of Chinese animal slang by clicking "Read more" below.