Cào Wŏ I 我操 Fuck Extremely Common Exclamation

我操

wŏ cào

Fuck! An extremely common exclamation for all occasions—when you’re pissed off, impressed, amazed, or whatever. Literally, “I fuck.” (As a side note, many Chinese are amused when they hear English speakers say “what’s up?” or “wassup?” because it sounds to them like wŏ cào.) When saying “fuck” alone, it’s much more usual to say wŏ cào than to say just 操 cào (tsow); northern Chinese, however, do often use cào alone as an interjection, especially between clauses. For example: “I had a really bad morning, fuck, had a car accident on my way to work.”