The Chinese Slang for “I love you”

Happy 520!

What is the reason that May 20th or May 21st are considered the prime days for marriage proposals and weddings in China every year?

521 wǔ èr yī 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ

520 wǔ èr líng 我爱您 wǒ ài nín

In Mandarin, the pronunciation of “5 wǔ “ is similar to that of “我 wǒ”, the pronunciation of “2 èr “ is similar to that of “爱 ài “, the pronunciation of “1 yī” is similar to that of “你nǐ”, and the pronunciation of “0 líng ” is similar to that of “您nín “. So “521” can be used to represent “我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ” and “520” can be used to represent “我爱您 wǒ ài nín “. They both mean‘I love you’.This is a subtle way for the Chinese to express their love and make vows, isn’t it smart and romantic?

On this romantic day, people will do the following activities:

表白 biǎo bái

confess your love

约会 yuē huì

go on a date

求婚 qiú hūn

to propose

登记结婚 dēng jì jié hūn

get a marriage registration

办婚礼 bàn hūn lǐ

hold a wedding ceremony

There are other fascinating Chinese slang terms associated with numbers:

1314 yī sān yí sì

一生一世 yì shēng yí shì

In Chinese, “3 sān” is pronounced like “生shēng “, “4 sì” is pronounced like “世shì”, and “一生一世yì shēng yí shì” means “the whole lifetime”. So, 1314 can be used as a love vow together with 520, and 5201314 can mean I will love you till the end of the world.

666 liù liù liù

牛牛牛 niú niú niú

In Chinese, “6 liù” and “牛niú” sounds similar, “牛 niú” means awesome, so 666 can be used to praise others who did an excellent job. “666” may have a very different meaning in other cultures so please remember that in China, this is a phrase used for making compliments.

886 bā bā liù

拜拜啦 bái bái lā

In Chinese, “88 bā bā” and “拜拜bái bái ” have similar pronunciations. “6 liu ” sounds like “啦la” in Chinese which is a way to make the sentence sounds more casual. so 886 can mean “Later” or “Peace out”.

Can you share some fascinating Chinese slang terms? Feel free to leave a comment and let others guess their meaning!