--- title: Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said», a lesson of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In every language there are words that are not teasing but punches; you learn what they mean so you know when so --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/) / Words that hurt — what they mean, neve… # Words that hurt — what they mean, never to be said Lesson 24 of the chinese street course of Mova's primary school: 16 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/0/) — In every language there are words that are not teasing but punches; you learn what they mean so you know when someone is being cruel, and you never learn them to use — that is why this lesson gives the meanings, not the words. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/1/) — You can tell a real insult by ear even without knowing it: an angry face, a spat-out word, a "your mother" or "his mother" in a hard voice, or a crowd going quiet — that is the moment to walk away, not to answer back. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/2/) — Some Mandarin insults are pictures: a "turtle" said as a name is an old insult about shame on someone's family; calling someone "waste matter" means useless; a "nerve-disease case" mocks people with real illnesses. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/3/) — A few words are borderline: "méi jiàoyǎng" (badly brought up) blames a child's whole family, and "lǎowài" (foreigner) is casual and mostly harmless, but some people don't like being labelled. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/4/) — And in a British playground the worst teasing your Chinese friend hears may be in English: fake sing-song "Chinese" noises, pulling eyes, "go back to China" — that is racism, and a real friend stands with him and tells a teacher. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/5/) — One rude one-word "get lost!" is said like spitting in real fights; it is a real insult, shocking to an elder, and if someone says it to you, walk away and don't say it back. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/6/) — There is a rude "shut up!" built on a word for mouth; it is very rude to any grown-up, and the soft way in a friendly argument is "bié shuō le". - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/7/) — Calling someone a "nerve-disease" case means nutcase or psycho; it mocks people with real illnesses and is not a funny word. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/8/) — Calling someone "waste matter" means useless, a waste of space; it hurts a lot, sometimes in online games, and some kids already hear it from strict adults. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/9/) — "méi jiàoyǎng" (MAY JYOW-yahng) means badly brought up, no manners; it blames the whole family, and if a granny says it about you, you probably forgot to greet her or interrupted — a "duìbuqǐ" fixes it. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/10/) — Asking "are you sick?" in a sneer means "are you sick in the head?"; among close friends it can be a light "you're crazy!", but it is easily heard as an insult. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/11/) — Telling someone to go and die is the harshest thing kids shout, in bad quarrels or online games; it is never a joke, and you should tell a trusted grown-up if someone says it to you. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/12/) — Calling someone a "turtle" is an old insult hinting at shame on the person's family; a real turtle at the zoo is fine. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/13/) — The most common Mandarin swear is built on insulting someone's mother and is used like "damn it"; any angry phrase about "your mother" or "his mother" is a swear, never to be repeated. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/14/) — "lǎowài" (LAOW-WIGH) is a casual word for foreigner, literally "old outsider"; people in China mostly use it without harm, but some people dislike the label. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/24-words-that-hurt/15/) — Fake sing-song "Chinese" noises, pulling your eyes and "go back to China" are racist teasing in British playgrounds, not jokes; stand with your friend, don't laugh along, and tell a teacher. - ← previous: [Friendly teasing — when it's fun and when it stings](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/23-friendly-teasing/) - next →: [Spring Festival — Chinese New Year](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/25-spring-festival/) - ↑ back to [Chinese street](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/)