I heard San Ba means bitch. But i want to know is it because its International Women's day on 8th March. March is 3 and the 8th is 8 making San Ba. Is that really why San Ba is used to call a woman a Bitch?!

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2009 02:49PM by Olive.

这个词语在中国北部并不是骂人的话
在长江以南就是一种贬义了
专门用来形容一个妇女不讲道理，胡搅蛮缠
同义词：泼妇

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2009 02:49PM by Olive.

it definitely means bitch but not sure why, hadn't heard that reason but makes sense.

It's indeed from women's day on 3.8(san ba). But I don't think it equal to bitch.

I asked another friend about the meaning and there are two different ideas on where it came from, some say it is from Woman's Day and other say

三+八=十一
十一written Vertically looks like
土which means dirt sort of so by calling someone sanba you were saying they were the equivalent of dirt.

It's not as bad as Bitch but it still is a bad thing to call a girl. I've been told it means anything from Bimbo, idiot or bitch.

the sentence :
ni hen san ba.
means you are a person always like to talking about others' business,privacy,etc. or wanna intervene others' business.

san ba means 妇女 in chinese, eapecially refers to moms and middle aged women. from international women's day,so it exists only in modern chinese language. but it refers to old chinese women. in old days, chinese women were not well educated and couldn't go out for work. they had lots of time , some of them then always had time and concerns with others' business.

I thought 三八 means B.S.

Ponpon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> the sentence :
> ni hen san ba.
> means you are a person always like to talking
> about others' business,privacy,etc. or wanna
> intervene others' business.
>
> san ba means 妇女 in chinese, eapecially refers
> to moms and middle aged women. from international
> women's day,so it exists only in modern chinese
> language. but it refers to old chinese women. in
> old days, chinese women were not well educated and
> couldn't go out for work. they had lots of time ,
> some of them then always had time and concerns
> with others' business.

I totally agree with this definition, but it could mean "bitch" by how 38 is said and the given context.

haha yeah maybe first we need to define Bitch as it also has many meanings. This is one of the big problems in learning languages....

Uberche Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> haha yeah maybe first we need to define Bitch as
> it also has many meanings. This is one of the big
> problems in learning languages....

Indeed but not only in learning languages but also in basic communication. Pending on use, language can be a useful tool or a deadly weapon. It's interesting how words and their definitions get manipulated to suit the agenda of a particular group (advertisers, politicians, spinmeisters are all champions at this).

I remember a conversation with a friend in which he mentioned that my dog was a bitch. I protested vigorously by saying that she was a wonderful, people-loving dog with great manners. Then i stopped because the true meaning (the only official one) of the word suddenly dawned on me and i realized that my friend wasn't trying to insult me but merely stating a fact

By now i wonder whether the OP is correct as hardly any Chinese member has confirmed this supposition. Is it possible that a Chinese friend told him this at the conclusion of many drinks and just wanted to pull his leg? This may be wishful thinking on my part as i hope the overall standing of women in China is a bit better than this.

I thinks 38 just means you are a woman, nothing else.

Now i'm obsessing over this and 三八 has a nice ring to it. If a Chinese guy ever calls me a 三八 i need to know whether to respond with a smile or with a slap in his face.

“三八”和“半头生”，都是标准的台湾“省骂”，相信每个人都曾听过，甚至挨过。
所谓“三八”，据我的了解，应该是专门用来骂女性的，意思是“这个女人举止轻浮，做事鲁莽、疯疯癫癫、不够庄重”。
“半头生”，就是骂男人的专用词了，意思也跟“三八”大同小异。
台湾的先民，怎么会想到用这些怪里怪气的字眼来骂人呢？
原来，连这两句台湾的“省骂”，也是当年的大陆移民从“唐山”带来的！
四十年来专事研究中国谚语的朱介凡先生，在他所著的《台湾礼俗之特彩》一文中，已经为“三八”和“半头生”二词，找到出处，该文指出：俗谓素性生硬，作事乖张，曰“三八”，亦曰“半头生”。拊掌录：北部有妓女 ，美色而举止生硬，人谓之生张八。寇忠愍（即寇准）乞诗于魏野（宋太宗时入），野赠之诗云：君为北道生张八，我是西州熟魏三，莫怪尊前无笑语，半生半熟未相谙。俗谓似本乎此，三八即取魏三张八之排行，半头生即出自半生半熟之语。
在中华民族的开拓史上，宋代是中原地区的居民大量涌入南部闽、粤的一段时期，闽粤两地的地形较为闭塞，中原移民世代沿用从老家带来的语言风俗，变化较少，最后再由“唐山”过台湾，把远在宋代的一句戏谑之语，普遍当成了任何人动口可出的骂人之词，当然是很合理的。
朱介凡先生的考证结论，的确使人信服。今后，随口骂人“三八”或“半头生”，可不能再只知其然而不知其所以然了。

“三八”还有一种意思:
闽南一带有一句俗语“三八”。这是一句骂人的话，意思是指那些不正经或者行为、语言等方面不符合礼仪、道德规范的人。“三八”这句俗语是怎么来的呢？
清朝末年，八国联军侵略中国，腐败的清政府慑于八国联军的压力，被迫与八国联军签订了许多丧权辱国的条约，并开放宁波、上海、青岛、厦门、广州等五个港口为通商口岸。从此，外国侵略者肆意在中国土地上横行霸道。那时，厦门、泉州等地也驻有许多外国鬼子，每逢三、八的日子，外国鬼子就成群结队到处横行，有的开着汽车在路上横冲直撞，有的拦劫妇女施以强暴，有的拿中国人作为靶子练习射击，有的借酒疯殴打行人……真是无恶不作。中国人民对此行径非常痛恨，所以一见外国鬼子就说“三八鬼子又来了”，赶快逃避。
后来，“三八鬼子”这句话一直流传下来，在流传过程中，人们为了简便，就缩为“三八”。凡是遇到那些行为不端，语言粗鲁、不遵礼仪的人，人们就说：“这个人真‘三八’。”

i got from www.baidu.com
so long and really a change to translate all into english. well, maybe i will do it tomorrow if i finish my fighting with all tha data and papers today .hahaha, in all,this explanation is different from what we use for nowadays in everyday life.
应该是专门用来骂女性的，意思是“这个女人举止轻浮，做事鲁莽、疯疯癫癫、不够庄重”。
it says it is used only when a woman behaves bad(some like bitch in english),impertinently,some kinda insane,not civilized. hehe, all are bad words.

another meaning,凡是遇到那些行为不端，语言粗鲁、不遵礼仪的人，人们就说：“这个人真‘三八’。”
not just for women,for all that bad behaved,rude,bad mannered people,some south chinese in Qin dynasty called foreign soldiers who invaded china sanba guizi(a bad calling to foreign invaders)

Oh, Ponpon, thank you very much. It's a lot of Chinese and right now i'm waking up with coffee and need to go through your post at my leisure. In any case, a big smile of thanks to you

Maybe sānbā could refer to a girl with large breasts.

Hey, bitch'n could mean hot / sexy, like, "Girl, your wheels are Bitch'n!"

Tangerine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh, Ponpon, thank you very much. It's a lot of
> Chinese and right now i'm waking up with coffee
> and need to go through your post at my leisure. In
> any case, a big smile of thanks to you

you're welcome. well, i planed to translate,but was a bit busy with my paper,if you can read chinese characters,then a good chance to get a new challenge,hahaha

Tangerine Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now i'm obsessing over this and 三八 has a nice
> ring to it. If a Chinese guy ever calls me a
> 三八 i need to know whether to respond with a
> smile or with a slap in his face.

Slap him. I have never heard any Chinese person use the word San ba in anyway except derogatory.

can somebody translate that for me?
喀墓昂杷咯拔柔?

Nikolitav Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> can somebody translate that for me?
> 喀墓昂杷咯拔柔?


not chinese mandarine, not cantonese(not for sure,maybe some cantonese i don't know),not hunan dialect. so maybe someother dialects,like minnan or shanghainese
i don't know the meaning even i can recognize every character...........

Uberche Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tangerine Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Now i'm obsessing over this and 三八 has a
> nice
> > ring to it. If a Chinese guy ever calls me a
> > 三八 i need to know whether to respond with a
> > smile or with a slap in his face.
>
> Slap him. I have never heard any Chinese person
> use the word San ba in anyway except derogatory.
true~~~