In Slang
Mandarin slang uses tortoises and turtles for two striking images.
Firstly, tortoises and turtles are regarded as insufficiently virile. So "to wear a green hat" (i.e., to look like a tortoise or turtle) is to be cuckolded (simplified Chinese: 戴绿帽子; traditional Chinese: 戴綠帽子; pinyin: dài lǜmàozi). Same goes with the expression "to wear a green scarf" (simplified Chinese: 戴绿头巾; traditional Chinese: 戴綠頭巾; pinyin: dài lǜtóujīn) It is therefore a major faux pas for a man to wear a green hat.
Secondly, "sea turtle" (simplified Chinese: 海龟; traditional Chinese: 海龜; pinyin: hǎi gūi) is slang for a returnee, a Chinese person who has studied abroad and returned home. (There is also a pun here, as hǎi gūi is also 海归, "to come back home from overseas"). The term has positive connotations, implying a dynamic ability to travel across the ocean. By contrast, "kelp" (simplified Chinese: 海带; traditional Chinese: 海帶; pinyin: hǎi dài), is used to describe an unemployed returnee. It has negative overtones, implying the person is drifting aimlessly, and is also a homophonic expression (Chinese: 海待; pinyin: hǎidài, literally "sea waiting").
Read more about this topic: Cultural Depictions Of Turtles
Famous quotes containing the word slang:
“All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“I’ve found that there are only two kinds that are any good: slang that has established itself in the language, and slang that you make up yourself. Everything else is apt to be passé before it gets into print.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)