Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

is one of the largest

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the ...

groups worldwide.

Profanity Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

most commonly involves sexual references and scorn of the object's ancestors, especially their mother. The mentioning of sexual organs is frequently used in Hokkien profanity.

Insults

As in English, a vulgar word for the sexual act fuck is used in insults and expletives. Below are the most commonly used Hokkien vulgar words.

Most frequently used F-word

*''kàn'' (姦) - fuck. Expressions: **"''kàn lín lāu-bú chhàu chi-bai''" (姦恁老母臭膣屄); often abbreviated to "''kàn lín lāu-bú''" or simply "''kàn lín niâ''" (姦恁娘) - the most notoriously popular Hokkien expletive meaning "''fuck your mother's smelly vagina (Cunt can also be substituted in this.)''". **"''sio kàn''" (相姦) - to fuck **"''tio̍h kàn''" (著姦)- to get fucked **"''hiong kàn/hong kàn''" (鄉姦) - expression used in anger, meaning "''go get fucked!''" *''chi-bai'' (膣屄) - vagina; cunt *''chhàu chi-bai'' (臭膣屄)- smelly vagina *''poah'' (撥) - to fuck or fucking. *''kàn lín lāu-bú poah chi-bai" "姦恁老母撥膣屄'' - Fuck your mother's fucking vagina (Cunt can be substituted) *''ni, leng'' (奶)- breast

Kan

''Kan'' (), literally meaning fuck, is the most common but grossly vulgar profanity in Hokkien. It's sometimes also written as . It is considered to be the national swear word in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. Used in a manner similar to the English word fuck, ''kan'' can express dismay, disgrace, and disapproval. It is extremely offensive when used to insult someone. Variety of phrases associated with ''Kan'': * kàn lín-niâ () = fuck your mother * kàn lín lāu-bú () = fuck your mother * kàn lín lāu-bú chhàu chi-bai () = fuck your mother's smelly

vagina In mammals, the vagina is the elastic, muscular part of the female genital tract. In humans, it extends from the vestibule to the cervix. The outer vaginal opening is normally partly covered by a thin layer of mucosal tissue called the hymen ...

* kàn lín chó͘-má () = fuck your great grandmother * kàn lín lāu-su () = fuck your teacher * kàn lín-niâ chi-bai () = fuck your mother's

* kàn lín-niâ chhàu chi-bai () = fuck your mother's smelly

* kàn lín lāu-bú poah chi-bai () = fuck your mother's broken vagina, literally means "fuck your mother broken vagina" * kàn lín-niâ-bú chhàu chi-bai () = fuck your mother's smelly

. In

, niâ-bú 娘母 (mother) also exists in other variants of pronunciation such as nâ-bú (a vowel change from niâ to nâ when spoken quickly), nâ-beh (). * kàn lí chin-sóng() = literally means "it's cool to rape/fuck you" * kàn kah ē khan-si () = literally means "fucking you until it becomes wet". Describing that vagina will become wet and intertwined like a spider web during sexual intercourse * lín-niâ (), lín-niâ--leh () or lín-niâ khah-hó () = short form for kàn lín-niâ (), meaning "fuck your mother". * sio-kàn () = means having sex, fucking each other, to fuck * tio̍h kàn () = to get fucked * hiông-kàn () = expression used in anger, meaning "''go get fucked!''" * khí-kàn () = start scolding someone in vulgarity, start swearing * kàn kha-tshng () = sodomy, anal or oral sex * káu-kàn-tūi() = to curse someone being fucked/raped by a dog * hō͘-káu-kàn-kàn leh () = to curse someone to be fucked by a dog

Most frequently used sexual organ

*''chi-bai'' (膣屄) - vagina; cunt *''chhàu chi-bai'' (臭膣屄)- smelly vagina *''poah'' (撥) - to fuck or fucking. *''ni, leng'' (奶)- breast

C-word (Cock)

*''lān-jiáu'' (𡳞鳥) - penis; also used as an expression to indicate incredulity, as in the English "''Bullshit!''". Expressions: **''koài-lān'' (怪𡳞) - literally 'weird penis', used to call somebody fucked up or abnormal. **''kóng lān-chiáu oe'' (講𡳞鳥話) - to talk rubbish **''khoàⁿ siáⁿ-mih lān-chiáu''? (看啥物𡳞鳥) - "''What the hell are you looking at?''" *''lām-pha'' (𡳞脬)- scrotum; also used as an expression to indicate incredulity, as in the English "''Bollocks!''" Nasal assimilation takes place as the onset of the second syllable is a bilabial, turning the underlying form /n/ in the coda of the first syllable to the surface form /m/. *''lān-hu̍t'' (𡳞核) - testes; used in a similar way as the above examples. Very VULGAR *''kha-chhng'' (尻川) - buttocks or anus *''kha-chhng khang'' (尻川孔) - anus; arsehole *''phah chhíu-chhèng'' (拍手銃)- literally 'to fire a hand-gun'; slang for male masturbation *''bôa'' (磨)- literally 'to rub' or 'to grind'. Slang for 'having sex', the imagery being two bodies rubbing against each other. *''tēⁿ'' (捏)- literally 'to squeeze' or 'to lie on something'. Slang for 'fuck'. Expression: **"''lí hō͘ lâng tēⁿ''" (汝予人捏) - you let yourself get (squeezed). *''sè'' (勢) - literally 'to whack'. Slang for 'fuck'. Expression: **"''lí hō͘ lâng sè''" (汝予人勢) (you let yourself get fucked). *''siáu'' (痟) - crazy. *''kā'' (咬) - literally 'to bite'; slang for

fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act involving a person stimulating the penis of another person by using the mouth, throat, or both. Oral stimulation of the scrotu ...

. Expression: **"''lí khàm goá lān-chiáu''" (汝崁我𡳞鳥) (suck my cock), used in anger as in "''up yours!''" *''khàm'' (崁)- literally 'to cover'; slang for fellatio. Expression: **"''khàm lān''" (崁𡳞) (stupid cock). *''chhīu-ni/chhiū-leng'' (樹奶) - literally 'rubber'; slang for condom *''khàu-pē khàu-bú'' (哭爸哭母) - literally 'cry father cry mother', refers to annoying and noisy complaining.

List of Hokkien profanities

References

{{Profanity Sexual slang Profanity by language P