As China moves toward modernization in the recent years, it has become more tolerant towards foreign cultures. Many aspects of the western cultures have been adopted and adapted into local versions. Some of these can be seen/heard in the colloquial Chinese language, such as “脱口秀(tuōkǒuxiù)” sounds like and means “talk show” and “黑客(hēikè)” means “hacker”.

Scroll down to see more of these English-originated Chinese words.

1. 香波(xiāng bō): shampoo

香(xiāng) means aromatic, 波(bō) means wave. Chinese people consider “aromatic wave” to be shampoo, interesting, isn’t it? However, the pronunciation of this word plays a more important role here, as this word comes from the English word “shampoo”.

Example:

Mary: 你买的香波不太好，我的很贵。~

Linda: 贵了不起啊…….:(((

Mary: nǐ mǎi de  xiāng bō  bú tài hǎo , wǒ de  hěn  guì.

Linda: guì  liǎo bù qǐ  a……..:(((

Mary: The shampoo you bought isn’t very good. Mine is very expensive.~

Linda: So what……..:(((

2. 酷(kù): cool

Judging by its pronunciation, we can tell that this word means “cool”, or “stylish”. It’s a very popular word among young people in China.

Example:

Mary: Your new hair style is really cool!

Linda: Yeah~……And yours is simply an eyesore.

Mary: 你的新发型太酷了。

Linda: 对啊~…….你的发型弱爆了。

Mary: nǐ de  xīn fà xíng  tài  kù  le.

Linda: duì a~……..nǐ de  fà xíng  ruò bào  le.

3. 粉丝 (fěn sī): fans

“粉丝 (fěn sī)” is actually Chinese word, which means vermicelli. It’s a kind of food similar to noodles. Nowadays this word is also commonly used to describe “fans”, again it’s the pronunciation here which plays an important role as it’s borrowed from the English word “fans”.

Example:

Mary: I’m a fan of Mr.X, he’s gorgeous.

Linda: He’s such a stupid guy, I can’t believe you like him.

Mary: :(((

Mary: 我是X先生的粉丝，他太棒了。

Linda: 我真不敢相信你喜欢这么傻的一个人。

Mary: :(((

Mary: wǒ  shì  X  xiān shēng  de  fěn sī , tā  tài  bàng  le.

Linda: wǒ  zhēn  bù  gǎn  xiāng xìn  nǐ  xǐ huān  zhè me  shǎ  de  yī  gè  rén.

Mary: :(((

4. 派对 (pài duì): party

“派对 (pài duì)” is a word that purely comes from the English word “party”.

Example:

Mary: Are you coming to my boyfriend’s birthday party tomorrow evening?

Linda: What??? He’s just called me and asked me to have dinner with him tomorrow evening.

Mary: 你明天晚上来我男朋友的生日派对吗？

Linda: 什么??? 他刚打电话给我说明天晚上要和我一起吃晚饭。

Mary: nǐ  míng tiān  wǎn shàng  lái  wǒ  nán péng yǒu  de  shēng rì  pài duì  ma?

Linda: shén me??? tā  gāng  dǎ diàn huà  gěi  wǒ  shuō  míng tiān  wǎn shàng  yào  hé  wǒ  yì qǐ  chī

wǎn fàn.

5. 马杀鸡(mǎshājī): massage

As a matter of fact, there is a word for “massage” in the Chinese language, which is “按摩(ànmó)”. However, more and more young people in China start to use “马杀鸡(mǎshājī)” instead of “按摩(ànmó)”

马 is horse;

杀 is to kill;

鸡 is chicken.

When put togeher, they mean “massage” (!!?)

Example:

Mary: My back is in pain. I desperately need a massage.

Linda: You can ask your boyfriend to give you one.

Mary: I don’t trust him anymore……

Mary: 我的背很疼。我非常需要做一个马杀鸡。

Linda: 你可以让你的男朋友给你按摩。

Mary: 我已经不相信他了……..

Mary: wǒ  de bèi  hěng téng . wǒ  fēi cháng  xū yào  zuò  yī  gè  mǎ shā jī.

Linda: nǐ  kě yǐ  ràng  nǐ de  nán péng yǒu  gěi  nǐ  àn mó .

Mary: wǒ  yǐ jīng  bù  xiāng xìn  tā  le……