译
A cultural glossary

The Chinese words English cannot hold

只可意会,不可言传
Take one word a day

Today's pick & a cultural fact

A new word is highlighted every day, plus a note you can drop straight into conversation. Shuffle as often as you like.

Word of the day
红包
hóngbāo
Festivalslit. red packet

Did you know?

Part one · Word explanations

What the words actually mean

453 Chinese words with no clean English equivalent. Every entry gives the literal reading, what it really means, the Western image people reach for instead — and two example sentences with pinyin.

Try one of these — 关系 · guanxi · face · rat race | or ask the AI for words beyond the list AI fallback

The glossary 453 words · 9 themes
Browse part one by theme

Nine ways into the culture

Pick a thread and follow it. Each theme opens the glossary already filtered.

Who it's for

Built for four kinds of visitor

Pick the path that sounds like you — every card links back into the glossary.

About this glossary

What you are looking at

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Every entry is written for someone who speaks no Chinese at all: a one-line definition in plain English, a comparison drawn from something you already know, the background that explains why the word exists, and how it is actually used out loud.

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