Outrageous Chinese: A Guide to Chinese Street Language

by James Wang

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0835125327
• ISBN13: 9780835125321
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: China Books & Periodicals
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Totally Awesome

The book begins with some embarrassing linguistic mishaps people experienced due to mis-using the tones - so watch your tones, lest you say something that will leave you blushing. The first section of the book warns you of different word combinations that may end up sounding as if you had sexual connotations in mind. Separate section of the book deals with sexual jargon - when you desire to use it intentionally. One of the sections deals with the delicacies on the menu that may appear strange to westerners. Then you'll find proper forms of addressing others depending upon your relationship with them. Chinese customs have somewhat different rules than American. Separate sections deal with crime, illness, weddings and funerals, expletives and idioms to watch for. All in all, a great little book. Highly recommended. You're bound to enjoy it from cover to cover.

The Best Guide to Chinese Slang, and Common Life

Chinese is at once ont of the most formal language in the world, and one of the coarsest. This book is a comprehensive discussion of all the terms, jokes, puns, and vocabulary in Chinese that you wouldn't want to say in front of your grandmother. Actualy, this book can cover such crass slang, that you wouldn't want to use some of it, even in front of your friends in the Merchant Marine!The key to what makes this book so good is that it is written by a Chinese native. Most books that teach you naughty Chinese are written by Westerners who barely grasp the concepts themselves. James Wang is in a leauge of his own, though. He illustrates such a fluency in the low-brow language of common urban Chinese, that honestly I was surprised. I lived in a poor part of Beijing while studdying Chinese, and this is about how the people talk.The book isn't just focused on stuff that will get your mouth washed out with soap either. It covers bribery, chinese food, pitfalls of pronunciation, and emergency medical vocabulary. What it is more than anything is a traveler's phrase book straight from hell. (that is to say, a good sort of straight from hell, like Spinal Tap)Fair warning, don't use the cuss words unless you also know how to appologize for them / kill a man with your bare hands.

Easy read, useful content

This book is a joy to read and gives you a handful of useful chinese slang. It doesn't try to be comprehensive, but does a good job of explaining the terms it introduces.If you're planning on spending any time in China and trying to speak Mandarin, this book is highly recommended. You'll be much better armed to deal with unfriendly locals -- both in recognizing when they're being insulting and responding appropriately.

Naughty Boy!

Mr. Wang is a very naughty boy, but we are indebted to him for letting us "big noses" have a look at the Chinese we very rarely see.

Truly outrageous!

The title says it all--this is for all those students who wanted to learn a few cuss words in Chinese, but the teacher wouldn't do it! Some of the stories are hilarious, and very instructive as well. For example, Wang's story about the student who got the tone wrong on "pen" (bi in the third tone) and said "bi" in the first tone (slang for the female genitalia) when asking to borrow a female classmate's pen, is the kind of illustration that will definitely make a student pay attention to tones from then on! Lots of fun, with many good illustrations of Chinese life and culture that make learning easy.