王八蛋

Chinese

	tortoise; turtle; cuckold	egg; oval shaped
trad. (王八蛋)	王八	蛋
simp. ^#(王八蛋)	王八	蛋
alternative forms	忘八蛋王八旦

Etymology

Originates from 王建 (Wang Jian), a lowlife scoundrel who was the eighth sibling in his family. The people in his village called him 賊王八 (Zei Wang Ba) and 王八賊 (Wang Ba Zei; both meaning "eighth Wang son, the thief").

忘八端 (wàng bāduān, “to forget the eight virtues”) was a saying that originated during the Ming and Qing dynasties, which is often regarded as the origin of this word. This etymology is dubious at best, as the pronunciations of these two phrases were not similar during ancient times.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wángbadàn, wángbādàn

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄤˊ ˙ㄅㄚㄉㄢˋ, ㄨㄤˊ ㄅㄚㄉㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): wong⁴ baat³ daan^6-2
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶waon-paq-de

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland, variant in Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wángbadàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˊ ˙ㄅㄚㄉㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wángbådàn
  - Wade–Giles: wang²-pa⁵-tan⁴
  - Yale: wáng-ba-dàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wangbadann
  - Palladius: ванбадань (vanbadanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɑŋ³⁵ b̥ä³ tän⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan, variant in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wángbādàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˊ ㄅㄚㄉㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wángbadàn
  - Wade–Giles: wang²-pa¹-tan⁴
  - Yale: wáng-bā-dàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wangbadann
  - Palladius: ванбадань (vanbadanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɑŋ³⁵ pä⁵⁵ tän⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: wong⁴ baat³ daan^6-2
  - Yale: wòhng baat dáan
  - Cantonese Pinyin: wong⁴ baat⁸ daan^6-2
  - Guangdong Romanization: wong⁴ bad³ dan^6-2
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔːŋ²¹ paːt̚³ taːn²²⁻³⁵/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ⁶waon-paq-de
  - MiniDict: waon^去 pah de
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³hhuaan-paq-de
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɦuɑ̃²² paʔ⁵⁵ de²¹/

Noun

王八蛋

(derogatory, vulgar, offensive) son-of-a-bitch; bastard
- 我好好的事情，都壞在你們這些王八蛋手裡了！ [MSC, trad.]
  我好好的事情，都坏在你们这些王八蛋手里了！ [MSC, simp.]
  From: 1905, 李寶嘉 (Li Baojia), 文明小史 (Wenming Xiaoshi), 第十一回 (Chapter 11)
  Wǒ hǎohǎo de shìqíng, dōu huài zài nǐmen zhèxiē wángbādàn shǒu lǐ le! [Pinyin]
  It was going well, but you sons of bitches ruined it all!