開火車

Chinese

		open; operate (vehicle); start	fire vehicle; train; combat chariot carrying equipment for attack by fire
trad. (開火車)		開	火車
simp. (开火车)		开	火车

Etymology

Sense #2: 嗚／呜 (wū), the onomatopoeia for the train horn, is homophonic with 污 (“dirty”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kāi huǒchē

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄞ ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄔㄜ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hoi¹ fo² ce¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kāi huǒchē
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄞ ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄔㄜ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kai huǒche
    • Wade–Giles: kʻai¹ huo³-chʻê¹
    • Yale: kāi hwǒ-chē
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kai huooche
    • Palladius: кай хочэ (kaj xočɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤ⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kāihuǒchēr
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄞ ㄏㄨㄛˇ ㄔㄜㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kaihuǒcher
    • Wade–Giles: kʻai¹-huo³-chʻê¹-ʼrh
    • Yale: kāi-hwǒ-chēr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kaihuooche'l
    • Palladius: кайхочэр (kajxočɛr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤɻ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hoi¹ fo² ce¹
    • Yale: hōi fó chē
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hoi¹ fo² tse¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hoi¹ fo² cé¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɔːi̯⁵⁵ fɔː³⁵ t͡sʰɛː⁵⁵/

Verb

開⫽火車 (verb-object)

1. (literally) to drive a train
2. (neologism, figurative, slang, humorous) to talk dirty

See also

• 老司機／老司机 (lǎosījī)
• 跑火車／跑火车 (pǎo huǒchē)