Funny Chinese words, puns and jokes, explained
Chinese has few sounds and many words, so it puns all the time. Get the joke and you know the language.
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Words that say what they are
Most Chinese words are made of characters you already know, so many read like a description, and some are funny once you see them:
| Word | What it is | Word for word |
|---|---|---|
| 火鸡 (huǒjī) | turkey | fire chicken |
| 电脑 (diànnǎo) | computer | electric brain |
| 熊猫 (xióngmāo) | panda | bear cat |
| 长颈鹿 (chángjǐnglù) | giraffe | long-neck deer |
| 袋鼠 (dàishǔ) | kangaroo | pocket mouse |
| 河马 (hémǎ) | hippo | river horse |
| 猫头鹰 (māotóuyīng) | owl | cat-head hawk |
| 恐龙 (kǒnglóng) | dinosaur | terror dragon |
| 蜗牛 (wōniú) | snail | snail cow |
| 冰箱 (bīngxiāng) | fridge | ice box |
| 手机 (shǒujī) | mobile phone | hand machine |
| 土豆 (tǔdòu) | potato | earth bean |
| 马上 (mǎshàng) | right away | on horseback |
| 东西 (dōngxi) | thing | east west |
| 小心 (xiǎoxīn) | be careful | small heart |
我给你讲个笑话。
joke
Also written 笑話
Puns on the sounds
Mandarin has few syllables, so words that sound alike are everywhere: one dictionary, the 辞海, lists 149 characters read yì. Chinese has always played with them1. At New Year people eat fish, 鱼 (yú), for 年年有余 (nián nián yǒu yú), “a surplus every year”, because 余 sounds the same. A bat, 蝠 (fú), on old paintings is a wish for good fortune, 福 (fú), and the 福 on a door is hung upside down, because 福倒了 (“fortune is upside down”) sounds like 福到了, “fortune has arrived”. Online, the pun is called 谐音梗 (xiéyīn gěng), “a sound-alike joke”. Our Chinese homophones list plays the sounds behind the best-known ones.
Two-part sayings with a twist
A 歇后语 (xiēhòuyǔ) is a two-part saying: the speaker says the first half, a funny picture, and the listener supplies the second, often a pun2:
| First half | Second half | The joke |
|---|---|---|
| 外甥打灯笼 (a nephew carrying a lantern) | 照舅 (lights up his uncle) | 照舅 sounds like 照旧, “same as before” |
| 打破沙锅 (break a clay pot) | 璺到底 (cracked to the bottom) | 璺 (crack) sounds like 问 (ask): “ask until you get to the bottom of it” |
| 电线杆上绑鸡毛 (chicken feathers tied to a power pole) | 好大的掸子 (what a big duster) | 掸子 sounds like 胆子, guts: “what nerve!” |
| 黄鼠狼给鸡拜年 (a weasel wishes a chicken Happy New Year) | 不怀好意 (up to no good) | no pun, just a picture everyone understands |
| 老虎的屁股 (a tiger’s bottom) | 摸不得 (not to be touched) | someone you must not cross |
Number slang
Numbers in a message stand for words that sound like them3:
| Number | Sounds like | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 520 (wǔ èr líng) | 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ) | I love you |
| 1314 (yī sān yī sì) | 一生一世 (yìshēng yíshì) | for a lifetime |
| 5201314 (wǔ èr líng yī sān yī sì) | 我爱你一生一世 | I love you for a lifetime |
20 May, 5·20, is now a day for couples in China, after 520.
Jokes Chinese kids tell
Cold jokes, 冷笑话, are short, silly and proud of it. Here are four; point at any word for its meaning:
绿豆从五楼掉下来，流了很多血，变成了红豆。
mung bean
Also written 綠豆
一个番茄过马路，被车压扁了。另一个说：“快看，番茄酱！”
ketchup; tomato sauce
Also written 番茄醬
老师：“用果然造句。”小明：“先吃水果，然后喝汽水。”
as expected; sure enough
老师：“用难过造句。”小明：“我家门前有条河，很难过。”
to make a sentence
小明 (Xiǎo Míng) is the boy in every Chinese school joke, like Little Johnny in English.
Why jokes are worth learning
A joke is the hardest test of a language: you laugh only if you know the words, the sounds and the culture at once. Words like 火鸡 are also the easiest to remember, because each part is a word you know. Words that don’t translate and Chinese words that sound like English are two more lists of words that stick, and our Library and the extension let you meet the rest in real stories and shows, with the meaning of every word a point away.
Questions
What are some funny Chinese words?
火鸡 (turkey, “fire chicken”), 电脑 (computer, “electric brain”), 熊猫 (panda, “bear cat”), 长颈鹿 (giraffe, “long-neck deer”), 袋鼠 (kangaroo, “pocket mouse”) and 东西 (thing, “east west”) read funny word for word.
What does 520 mean in Chinese?
“I love you”: 520, wǔ èr líng, sounds like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ), and 1314 like 一生一世, “for a lifetime”. 20 May has become a day for couples.
What is a Chinese cold joke?
A 冷笑话 (lěng xiàohua) is a short, silly joke that makes people groan rather than laugh, like an English dad joke: a mung bean falls, bleeds and becomes a red bean.
Sources
Checked on 27 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.