呸！
bazza
September 18, 2007 at 05:31 PM posted in General DiscussionCan 呸 be used to mean boo! as in said suddenly to surprise someone or is it to show disapproval? Or both?
johnrash
September 21, 2007 at 06:47 AM
You should check out the lesson on ONOMATOPOEIA....
http://chinesepod.com/learnchinese/chinese-onomatopoeia/discussion
amber
September 21, 2007 at 06:21 AM
Hi Bazza,
Sorry I missed this question!
In Chinese, the equivalent for 'boo' (to scare someone, etc.) is:
啊 (a)
嘿 (hèi)
呸 (pèi) is used differently. It is a lot stronger, and is used to express disgust or disapproval. It is quite impolite Connie says.
Hope that helps! This could be a good Qing Wen topic I think (if you'll come back and listen to us again one day ;)
babliku
September 19, 2007 at 06:14 AM
The only time I've ever heard this word used is in expressing utter disbelief/disgust when judging someone's moral standards or character. Like:
他这种人也会舍己为人？我呸！
(Having preconceived notions of someone's low moral standards) He's willing to sacrifice his interests for others? Ha!
Actually in this example 我呸 has the cynicism/disgust of Ha without the um, "humour" aspect. It's kind of like "I spit on the ground on which you stand".
Yeah, two cents.
Kyle
September 19, 2007 at 01:46 AM
I hear it all the time as an "spitting" sound, but never as a boo.
In fact, I've never had a Chinese try and scare me, or seen one try and scare another. So, I don't know what sound they'd try and make. Interesting question for someone else....
dan78cj5
September 18, 2007 at 06:56 PM
Never heard it, BUT, I am very curius about these kind of 'non-words' that are used as interjections before a sentance or particles at the end to express meaning (Is there an idea for a C-Pod lesson in here somewhere?). When watching Chinese TV shows there seams to be a much wider field than my vocabulary of 嘿，吗，呢，吧.
On 呸 pei1,
You have probably already hit a dictionary or two, but a quick scan of the Pleco-dict dictionaries gives a few pretty good examples of use. Still doesn't answer your Q though.
From Pleco:
ABC dictionary:
呸 pei1, interjection, pah, bah, pooh, ex: "呸，我才不希罕呢。
Oxford 汉英词典:
呸 pei1 (叹) pah, bah, pooh, ex: 呸，胡说八道！Bah, that's sheer nonsense.
Unihan: 呸 Pei1 an expression of reprimand
CEDICT: 呸 pei1 to spit (in contempt)
ADSOTRANS: 呸 pei1, boo
OK, so that's just a dictionary, maybe someone who has heard/used this can give us a feel for it.
Lantian
September 22, 2007 at 03:04 PM哈 with a fourth tone in my opinion also works well. People have said it to me as they sneak up behind me. ;)
呸 is just like the English "pihh" like one is spitting, in meanin g and tone. Or light joking/sarcasm with very close friends. Otherwise it is very strong. Almost like the English "F" word in my opinion if said in anger.