ew - a disgust particle

[atitarev]

Hi,

What's the closest equivalent of "Ew!" in Chinese? Are 哎哟 and 啊呀 the best options whe you want to express disgust?

EDIT:

I checked a few online dictionaries but perhaps the search word should be different. Perhaps, "yuck"? What about 呸 or 啐?

[taylor04]

I've always used 恶心， but its more just a word than a particle.

[atitarev]

Thanks, taylor04, it's like "disgusting!", isn't it?

[cerberus]

呸 is usually used to express disgust at a person or a thought, since it has some sort of connotation with spitting.

男：我们还是不要去购物吧。

Man: Let's not go shopping.

女:呸！

You get the idea .

Somehow I feel if you just said Ew, most would get the message anyway. 哎哟could probably be used, but I don't feel that it is a specialized term for expressing disgust.

[Shi Tong]

恶心 is the most commonly used.. but if you're looking for a thing to say when you tread into it, just say the 恶 part, this usually works for me.

Of course, if you want to go on to talk about it, you'll need to switch back to 恶心.

Not really heard of any others.

And yes, it does mean disgusting.. but as I said, if you tread in it, and say "恶........!!!!!", this means "errrrRRRR!!!" like you'd say in English.

[xiaocai]

In my dialect we just make a sound like "eeeeeee..." in approximately the 4th tone of mandarin, which I think is kind of like "ew" in English. Don't know any equivalent in Mandarin though.

I agree with atitarev that 恶心 is more like "disgusting!" in English. The word itself carries an actual meaning.

[adrianlondon]

很恶 is what my Taiwanese boyfriend says at times when "ewwww" would also work.

[creamyhorror]

I think we say "eeeeee" here in Singapore with a rising then falling tone (like a Mandarin 2nd then 3rd (pure low) tone). But it might be more for females.

(edit: "eeeee" sounding like "yiiiii")

Edited April 7, 2010 at 01:27 AM by creamyhorror

[Shi Tong]

很恶

That and many other things.. 超恶 (super disgusting), 恶的不得了 (disgusting to a rediculous level), 恶心死 (so disgusting I could die) is also pretty popular, and probably what emits from my wife when she's stepped in something.

I would say that they do still all carry meanings though, rather than being onomatopoeic. The most onomatopoeic way of saying it is just to emit 恶 though.. "eeee".. ㄜ being the phonetic sound emitted when stepping in poop.

[xiaocai]

"eeeee" sounding like "yiiiii"

That is what I meant,