Numbers with Special Meanings
For those of you who’ve ever wondered why Chinese kids snicker up their sleeves when you say “250,” this post will illuminate the numerous numerical euphemisms in Chinese. You’ll also see why phone numbers with a lot of 8s are more expensive than phone numbers chock-full of 4s.
Acoustic Puns
These are all based on xiéyīn 谐音 (homonyms) or at least similar-sounding words (see also the New Year’s pun bank).
8 bā 八 ~ fā 发 = good luck / get rich (from fācái 发财)
88 bā bā 八八 ~ bye bye*
886 bā bā liù ~ bye bye lo (咯) / bye bye le (了)**
520 wǔ èr líng 五二零 ~ wǒ ài nǐ 我爱你 = I love you
9 roses = eternal love
Explanation: 9 jiǔ 九 ~ jiǔ 久 = long time
*I always wondered why they don’t use 800 bā bǎi, which sounds EXACTLY like “buh bye” if said quickly. I guess they prefer 2 digits.
**Guangdong Province only?
More Number Idioms
These don’t seem to come from acoustic similarities to other words.
3/8 sān bā 三八 (March 8th) = Stupid/foolish woman
March 8 is International Women’s Day (Fùnǚjié 妇女节). I’m not sure where the negative connotations came from. Maybe it has some connection to bāguà 八卦 (gossip)?
250 èr bǎi wǔ 二百五 = stupid
According to this, it’s because 250 is half a “jīn” 斤 (500 grams), so it means “half brain.”
Bus #11 e.g. “Take bus #11″ dā shíyì lù chē 搭一路车 = to walk somewhere
The two 1s are supposed to be your legs. I’ve also heard this called yāo yāo lù 幺幺路.
211 college/degree = a good college or a degree from a reputable college
I first saw this on some QQ thing where a girl was saying she wanted a boyfriend who had a “211 degree.” This comes from the “211 Project” (211 gōngchéng 工程). See Wikipedia for more.
Written
182 ~ 团 = reunion (from 团结 tuán jié)
I’ve seen someone write this out, but I can’t seem to imagine it here on the computer screen. You write the 1 and 2 somehow to make the two sides of the box and the 8 is supposed to be that 才 filler material somehow. If anyone has a scan or something of this that might help. Otherwise, forget this one.
Anyone have any other number slang to add to this list? It seems like 1314 and 168 are supposed to mean something but I can’t remember what.
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21 Responses to “Numbers with Special Meanings”
Ingo
said:
What is 56.com?
Comment date: Jul 26, 2009
大羽
said:
1.
51 means：我要
there is a job searching website: 51job
51job xiéyīn 谐音 (homonyms): wǒ yào JOB
2.
二，èr ：Stupid，Idiot
这个人很二！
zhè ɡè rén hěn èr ！
This guy is a idiot.
3.
六 liù ：Luck，everything will be OK
祝您六六大顺！
zhù nín liù liù dà shùn ！
Wish you everything is ok!
Comment date: Jul 26, 2009
大羽
said:
@Ingo
I guess in 56.com, 5 means 我（I），6 means Luck，everything will be OK.
56 means I’m very luck, what I do goes smoothly.
Comment date: Jul 26, 2009
Greg
said:
Great post – I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. (And I thought I was the only one to have thought that ’800′ would be much better!)
And in the same light as Ingo’s comments, I’m also curious about the 126 in ’126.com’.
Comment date: Jul 26, 2009
Andy
said:
1314 ~ 一三一四 ~ 一生一世 = Whole life, forever.
Ex: 5201314 = 我爱你一生一世 = I love you forever.
168 ~ 一六八 ~ 一禄发 ~ 一(定)禄发 = Surely, have good fortune.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Andy
said:
56.com
56有无聊、我乐、娱乐的意思.
That means: I’m bored (无聊), I have entertainment (娱乐) and have fun (我乐).
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Joel
said:
I saw a blog post recently explaining the weird urls of the popular Chinese websites. 56, 126, and 163.com are all in there.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
博文
said:
On the rude side: 3180 = an impolite name for a man.. i have seen this written, the 3 (三) and 1 (a vertical line) come together to become 王 , then the eight (八) and the zero looks like an egg.
I have seen 八八六 even in the North as well
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Albert
said:
大羽,
Do you know why “liu” = “luck”? Is it xieyin from some Chinese word or from the English “luck”?
Also, what parts of China does “er” = stupid. I’ve never heard it (which doesn’t mean anything actually).
博文,
Oh good! Another written one. I find those to be so much work to understand (and remember). I still can’t imagine the 团 one again.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Albert
said:
Oh and I forgot to say: very interesting about all the website meanings. Does every Chinese person just instinctively know what they mean or do they need to be explained?
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Carl
said:
what about 500 wǔ bǎi? When you say two people are stupid you can say nǐmen liǎ jiā yǐqǐ wǔ bǎi. You two are stupid (250 + 250 = 500)
jiā = plus (in math)
If someone calls you 250 can say nǐ shì wǔ bǎi. Your twice as stupid.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
大羽
said:
@ Andy
I agree with you that 56.com means 无聊 wú liáo.
56′s homonyms is 无聊。
@ Albert
I search the websites, there are two different explanations about “六” means “good luck and thing goes smoothly”
1. In 《易经》, the content include ancient Chinese divination and cosmological beliefs.In this book, the author believe “六”is a good number.
I don’t know 《易经》at all, so I can’t explain more detail of it.
2. “顺溜” literally means “smooth”, 溜’s homonyms is “六liu”
In “一路顺风（good and safe trip on your way to somewhere）”, “路lu” have the same pronunciation of “陆lu”. In Chinese, 6 can be written as 六， and when you fill up the sheet about Bank or Finance, 六 will be written as “陆”.
一 —> 壹
二—-> 贰
三—–>叁
四—–> 肆
五—–> 伍
六—–》陆
七—–> 柒
八—–> 捌
久——> 玖
十——> 拾
Albert, would you pls correct my English, then others can read it more clearly.
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
大羽
said:
@ Albert
Sometimes we can instinctly know what does it mean. But sometimes we can’t, additional explanation is prefered. But when we get the explanation, we can remember that more easily.
for example: http://www.56.com
I instinctly think that means I’m Luck (5 means我 wo， 6 means Luck)
But after I read Andy’s explanation, I would prefer his opinion.
56 is the homonyms of 无聊wú liáo Boring”， since it is a video sharing webstie and can make Bored person get more and more unboring.
But when Chinese read 4 or 8, I believe most people will instinctly think “Die” or “get rich”
——————
@ Albert
In northen China, especially in Shandong province,TianJin, Beijing area, ”二”have the meaning of “idiot, stupid, foolish”
Comment date: Jul 27, 2009
Hobbes
said:
Well I chose my phone number in China because of it’s homonym. It includes 173 and 1748, which if you change the tones a bit sounds like 一起散，一起死吧。
Nice post, btw, keep ‘em coming
Comment date: Jul 28, 2009
大羽
said:
The Circle Index π ≈ 3.1415926 homonym :
山间一寺一壶酒而乐。
shān jiān yī sì yī hú jiǔ ér lè.
There is a temple among the mountains, somebody hold a pot of liquor to drink happily.
Comment date: Jul 28, 2009
Helen
said:
二愣子：A dull, stupid person; a dolt; a rash fellow.
er 二 means foolish, it may come from some dialect.
Comment date: Jul 29, 2009
Albert
said:
@大羽,
Your English is fine! We’re all learning here. I think we can usually understand what you’re saying no problem. Very interesting about 顺溜 as one possible source for “liu” meaning “luck.” Also very interesting about the little mnemonic device for remembering the digits of pi. Is that common for children in school to use that as a memory aid?
Hobbes,
Great phone number! We’ll all call to congratulate you
Hellen,
I’ve added it to the MDBG dictionary (it should show up tomorrow).
Thanks for the insult
Comment date: Jul 29, 2009
Maureen Kealy
said:
The best phone number ever is:
098585858, where 8 stands for money (“ba” is close to “fa” 發, i.e 發財 = get rich) and 5 stands for I (as mentioned above, sounds like 我).
Everytime they say this phone number, they’re proclaiming “I’m rich! I’m rich!! I’m rich!!!”
Comment date: Aug 15, 2009
大羽
said:
12580 Hot line or http://www.12580.com
12580‘s homonym : 一按我帮你 yī àn wǒ bāng nǐ
Comment date: Aug 16, 2009