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:
“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)
“All slang is metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)