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).4 sì 四 ~ sǐ 死 = death8 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 you9 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.