Use “si le” to express negative feelings

Modern Chinese have developed the habit of using the character 死 sǐ (die) to spice up their colloquial expressions. Let's take a closer look to see what we can learn from these colorful language extremes. Often these "dying" expressions are used to express negative feelings with lighthearted charm…

饿死了 è sǐ le  – extremely hungry

渴死了 kě sǐ le – extremely thirsty

吓死我了 xià sǐ wǒ le – frightened me to death

疼死了 téng sǐ le – to really hurt

热死了 rè sǐ le – unbearably hot

冷死了 lěng sǐ le – unbearably cold

累死了 lèi sǐ le – dying from overwork

堵死了 dǔ sǐ le – blocked road; plugged hole

烦死了 fán sǐ le – annoyed to death

困死了 kùn sǐ le – incredibly sleepy

气死我了 qì sǐ wǒ le – infuriating me

无聊死了 wúliáo sǐle – bored to death

They can also be flipped around to express how much you enjoy something…

好吃死了 hǎochī sǐ le – so delicious! (for food)

好喝死了 hǎohē sǐ le – so tasty! (for drinks)

好玩死了 hǎowán sǐ le – so much fun!

喜欢死了 xǐhuān sǐ le – enjoy it to death!

可爱死了 kě'ài sǐ le – too cute!

美死了 měi sǐ le – so beautiful!

爱死了 ài sǐ le – love it to death!

Example:

我还在路上呢！高架堵死了！

wǒ hái zài lùshàng ne! gāojià dǔ sǐ le!

I'm still on the road! Traffic on the highway is horrible!

Speaker beware, older or more traditional Chinese may gasp at the mention of death, even in this casual context. Here are a few alternatives:

烦得要命 fán dé yàomìng – terribly annoying

甜得要命 tián dé yàomìng – sickeningly sweet

慢得要命 màn dé yàomìng – awfully slow

爱得要命 ài dé yàomìng – love (it/you) to death

Another beware, to many these expressions have a girly overtone to them. Manly men may prefer to use more neutral sounding phrases such as…

复杂得不得了 fùzá dé bùdéliao – exceedingly complicated

好得不得了 hǎo dé bùdéliao – extremely good

爱得不得了 ài dé bùdéliao – desperately love (it/you)

Example:

这巧克力蛋糕好吃得不得了，你别和我抢哦！

zhè qiǎokèlì dàngāo hǎochī dé bùdéliao, nǐ bié hé wǒ qiǎng o!

This chocolate cake tastes so good! Don't fight me for it!

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