英语单词趣谈：25个与“鬼”有关的词汇

这是澳大利亚人Carl在他的博客“一步一个脚印”里发表的文章，总结了中文里25个与“鬼”有关的词以及它们的地道英语说法，对学中文的老外和学英语的中国人都非常有用哦~

I’m particularly fond of affix characters in Chinese, and what more vibrant an example than 鬼 guǐ (“ghost; devil”)?

魔鬼 móguǐ (“evil devil”) – demon

懒鬼 lǎnguǐ (“lazy devil”) – lazybones

酒鬼 jiǔguǐ (“alcohol ghost”) – alcoholic; drunkard

醉鬼 zuìguǐ (“drunk devil”) – drunkard

烟鬼 yānguǐ (“smoke devil”) – opium addict; chain smoker

调皮鬼 tiáopíguǐ (“naughty devil”) – naughty child

捣蛋鬼 dǎodànguǐ (“make-trouble devil”) – same as #6

吸血鬼 xīxuèguǐ (“suck-blood devil”) – vampire

鬼佬 guǐlǎo (“devil old-guy”) – foreigner (usually derogatory)

胆小鬼 dǎnxiǎoguǐ (“small-gut devil”) – coward; chicken

二鬼子 èrguǐzi (“two-ghost-thing”) - a “banana” – someone yellow (Asian) on the outside but white (Caucasian) on the inside (derogatory)*

短命鬼 duǎnmìngguǐ (“short-life devil”) – someone who dies at a young age

赌鬼 dǔguǐ (“gambling ghost”) – gambling addict

饿鬼 èguǐ (“hungry ghost”) – someone who is always hungry; someone with a big appetite

机灵鬼 jīlingguǐ (“clever ghost”) – clever person

胡涂鬼 hútuguǐ (“confused ghost”) – someone who often seems confused and/or stupid

色鬼 sèguǐ (“lust ghost”) – lecher; person who engages in sexual excess (no exact word for this in English perhaps?)

厉鬼 lìguǐ (“terrible ghost”) – evil spirit

馋鬼 chánguǐ (“gluttonous ghost”) – pig (someone who eats too much)

催命鬼 cuīmìngguǐ (“prodding ghost”) – someone who keeps pushing people to do things; a nagger

死鬼 sǐguǐ (“dead ghost”) – a negative but playful term used between spouses

鬼子 guǐzi (“devil-thing”) – foreign devil (derogatory)

鬼怪 guǐguài (“ghost-monster”) – ghosts and monsters

见鬼 jiànguǐ (“see ghost”) – go to Hell!

鬼知道 guǐ zhīdào (“ghost knows”) – Heaven knows!