考背

考背

Chinese

		phonetic
simp. and trad. (考背)		考	背

Etymology

The Mandarin pronunciation of these two characters approximates the sound of Min Nan 哭爸 (khàu-pē, literally “to mourn the death of one's father”). The phrase is also a crude way to curse someone (i.e. to hope that a person is placed in the position of having to mourn the loss of a parent).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kǎobèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄠˇ ㄅㄟˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Pinyin: kǎobèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄠˇ ㄅㄟˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kaobey
    • IPA ^(key): /kʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ peɪ̯⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

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      edit edit 拷貝／拷贝 考背

Interjection

考背

1. (Taiwanese Mandarin) May your parents rot!

   • 一面跑她一面揉著她的膀子，跑到老遠她才回過頭來，朝著王雄吐了一泡口沫罵道：「考背！」 [MSC, trad.]
     一面跑她一面揉著她的膀子，跑到老远她才回过头来，朝著王雄吐了一泡口沫骂道：“考背！” [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1965: Pai Hsien-yung, Taipei People, A Sea of Blood-red Azaleas

     Yīmiàn pǎo tā yīmiàn róu zhù tā de bǎngzǐ, pǎo dào lǎo yuǎn tā cái huí guò tóu lái, cháo zhù Wáng Xióng tù le yī pào kǒu mò mà dào: “Kǎobèi!” [Pinyin]

     Rubbing her shoulders as she ran, she ran some distance before turning around, then faced toward Wang Hsiung and spat. "May your parents rot!" she cursed.