The serenity universe

"We just need a small crew, them as feel the need to be free."

Circulation: Crew Only

The Serenity Universe Here's how it is. Earth got used up, so we terra-formed a whole new galaxy, some planets rich and flush with the new technologies, some not so much. The Central Planets which formed the Alliance waged war to bring everyone under their rule. A few idiots tried to fight it. Among them myself.

I'm Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity. Got a good crew. Fighters. A pilot. Mechanic. We even picked up a preacher. A bona fide companion. There's a doctor too. Took his genius sister out of some Alliance camps. Keeping a low profile. You got a job, we can do it. Don't much care what it is.

Let me fill you in. My story explores the lives of a group of people who fought on the losing side ( not necessarily the wrong one ) of the civil war and others who now make a living on the fringe of society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. We contemplate the black and each of us sees different things.

Five hundred years from now, the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two.

The two worlds that make up the "core planets" ( the first worlds to be terra-formed ) are Sihnon, a mostly East Asiathemed planet, and Londinium, a world with mostly American and Western Europe influences. The alliance of the two worlds leads up to a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multireligious universe.

Here is background on the planets: Ariel is a central planet of the Union of Allied Planets. It is the eleventh planet orbiting White Sun. It is home to a major medical centre ( named Saint Lucy's ) of the Alliance's solar system. The majority of the action of the episode "Ariel" occurs on this planet. Ariel is home to a bioluminescent lake that is a popular swimming spot. My and Zoe's old war buddy Tracey carried human organs to Ariel, where they were meant to be removed from his body and sold ( weird guy ). Ariel could be named after one of Uranus' moons in the stellar system of "Earth That Was" which gets its name from Ariel the sprite in William Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The crew of Serenity arrives on this planet for Inara's annual check-up ( whoosh ).

Beaumonde, the fifteenth planet orbiting the star Kalidasa ( I am not making this stuff up ), is a fairly wealthy planet. The planet is known to have factories and ranches. The Serenity crew arrives here after their heist on Lilac, to share part of their earnings with the brothers Fanty and Mingo ( twins, but I always can tell them apart ). Our port of call is a large Asian city. At the bar called Maidenhead, which was chosen for these dealings, we discover River's Alliance-conditioned

fighting abilities. This occurs during the Serenity movie documentary. About seven months earlier, the crew was headed for Beaumonde in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds".

Beaumonde roughly translated from French means "beautiful world."

Bellerophon, seen in the episode "Trash", is a technologically advanced Alliance world, and home to the wealthy. It is the tenth planet orbiting the White Sun. It has both a large ocean and an empty area of desert climate, complete with canyons, rocks and sand. Isis Canyon is pointed out as the most deserted spot on the world ( and one of my faves – good place for standing on the raggedy edge and contemplating the black ). Bellerophon Estates, large selfcontained estates that hover with anti-gravity above the moon's ocean, are described as having "gracious living, ocean views and state-of-the-art security." Durran Haymer, a collector of priceless “Earth That Was” artifacts, lives in Bellerophon Estates. The planet is named after a hero in Greek mythology. "Bellerophon" is also the name of an interstellar spacecraft referred to in the movie Forbidden Planet, as well as the unofficial name of 51 Pegasi b, the first extrasolar planet around Sun-like star to be discovered.

Haven, a moon of Deadwood, the seventh planet orbiting the Blue Sun, is the home of Shepherd Book ( great guy of depth ). It was a place of refuge for the Serenity crew. In the novelisation of the film/documentary, it is revealed that Haven is a mining planet which is often used as a hiding place for those running from the law ( for a fee – a sort of Lee

Abbey ) and is where some smugglers or criminals decide to settle down.

Hera is an Earth-like planet with important significance to the Unification War. It orbits the protostar Murphy, which is the fourteenth planet orbiting the star Georgia ( named after one of our crew ). Serenity Valley is located here, where the Independent Faction experienced a crushing defeat at the hands of the Alliance. First mentioned in the episode "Serenity". Hera is named after a goddess in Greek mythology, Zeus' wife and sister. In the closed-captioning for the episode "Bushwhacked," it is erroneously spelled "Hara" ( I blame Wash ).

Higgins' Moon orbits Harvest, the fourth planet orbiting the Red Sun, where the primary commercial activity is mud mining which is performed by indentured workers called "mudders". The mud is exported off-world and used in the manufacturing of ceramic components. The bulk of the population are impoverished and/or indentured workers.

The moon appears to be owned by a magistrate named Higgins. Jayne became a folk hero to the mudders in the town of Canton due to his role in a botched heist about four years before the time of the Firefly series. The crew visits Higgins' Moon in the episode "Jaynestown."

Jiangyin is a border planet located three weeks away from Persephone, and also nearby Greenleaf. It is the first planet orbiting the Red Sun and is the capital world of that system.

Alliance law is known to be upheld here. The crew of Serenity sells a cargo load of cattle here in the episode

"Safe". This is where Simon Tam is kidnapped to become the village doctor, and River is accused of being a witch. The planet is most likely named after a city in China's Jiangsu province along the Yangtze River.

Lilac is a moon of New Canaan, the second planet orbiting the Blue Sun and is a "border planet". It is near Reaver territory ( behind the sofa time ). From space it appears to have a "lilac" ( or purple-ish ) colour, which presumably it was named for. The Serenity crew land on Lilac to rob a vault holding an Alliance payroll. Lilac is at times roughly ten hours from Beaumonde as stated by Wash, depending on journey planning to avoid Alliance vessels.

Miranda is the name of a planet located beyond Reaver territory. It orbits the protostar Burnham, the eighth and final planet in the Blue Sun system. It was home to an Alliance colony with a population of 30 million. The Alliance experimented on the population to find a way to make people more controllable. Experiments with "G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate", or "Pax", failed: 99.9% of the population became so passive that they essentially lost the will to live.

The opposite effect was observed in the remaining 0.1% of the population, who became extremely aggressive and butchered the Alliance scientists in charge of the experiments. This portion of the population escaped and became the Reavers. The Alliance tried to cover up what had happened on the planet by creating a story that the colony was lost due to failure in the terraforming equipment. Like Ariel, Miranda shares its name both with a character from The Tempest and a moon of Uranus.

Osiris, the seventh world orbiting the White Sun, is a wealthy core planet where Simon Tam attended medical school and worked as a trauma surgeon, mentioned in the episode "Serenity". Osiris is also likely to be the location of the Tam Family estate shown in various flashbacks in the episode "Safe". Named after the Ancient Egyptian god of life, death, and fertility, "Osiris" is also the unofficial name of HD 209458 b, the first extrasolar planet to be discovered by the transit method.

Persephone is a civilised planet with heavily stratified societal structure. It was one of the three leading planets for the Independents' side of the Unification War. Persephone orbits the protostar Lux which is the last planet in the White Star system. The Eavesdown Docks are located here, a commercial port and Badger's base of operations. The Serenity crew lands here periodically to resupply and pick up work. Simon and River Tam, Shepherd Book and the Alliance villain Dobson were picked up here in the episode "Serenity".

Book had been living on Persephone at the Southdown Abbey. The planet was also the site of a sword-fighting duel between myself and Atherton Wing in the episode "Shindig".

Persephone's name comes from Greek mythology as the name of the "Queen of the Underworld".

Regina is the second planet orbiting Georgia. It is a mining world upon which many people are suffering from "Bowden's malady", a degenerative disease. This is where "The Train Job" takes place. Its name is Latin for "queen".

Santo is an unsophisticated planet near Persephone. It is a moon of Qin Shi Huang, a protostar orbiting the White Sun, which itself is the eighth planetary body in the system. From space, Santo has a bluish-grey colour. Jayne and I get into a fight with some slavers here. It is seen in the episode "Shindig". Its name is Spanish for "saint".

St. Albans, the fifth planet orbiting the Red Sun, is an icy world, and Tracey's home planet. Located at times about two days away from the Space Bazaar Sky Plex. There is apparently a single Federal Station located somewhere on the planet, reasonably close to a huge gorge through which Serenity flies in an attempt to outrun an Alliance gunship.

Tracey is brought back to this planet in the episode "The Message". It is named after the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England.

Triumph orbits the brown dwarf Heinlein, itself ninth body orbiting the Red Sun. Triumph is a primitive and poor world, apparently self-governed with rather unusual customs and traditions. Elder Gomman is the leader of the moon's settlers or, more likely, one small town's worth of them. Saffron was picked up here in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds".

Whitefall is the fourth moon of Athens, the ninth planet orbiting the star Georgia. A large percentage of the world is owned by a woman named Patience. Whitefall is said to not be civilisation "in the strictest sense." The crew visits Whitefall hoping to sell their cargo to Patience in the episode "Serenity". A security outpost on the planet was later seen destroyed in the film/documentary Serenity.

Now, let us “talk the talk” The movement to leave “Earth That Was” stands out as a remarkable event in human history, one in which crosscultural cooperation helped to achieve what some thought was impossible. In the effort to find a new home for humanity, the primary powers of the era--the United States of America and China--worked together to create the necessary technology, manpower, and logistics for the largest migration of people ever known.

Once the exodus of mankind had begun, the close quarters and difficult survival conditions in space broke down traditional barriers of language and culture. After a full generation had lived and died in the massive convoy of ships slowly trudging from star to star, the average person was at least bi-lingual and had a very multi-cultural outlook. A person's ethnicity became far less importance than competence and character ( a wonderful state of affairs – what could possible go wrong? ).

Thus many generations later, the children of “Earth That Was” don't think much back to the days of colonisation, but continue the legacy by their almost universal fluency in both English and Chinese. Culture and language have both continued to evolve, with economics becoming a primary dividing line. It is easy to distinguish a person from the central planets from one born and raised out on the Rim.

Slang and linguistic shortcuts are used on the frontier, though some have filtered back into the refined speech usually found on worlds of the Core.

English and Chinese Folks in the “Verse” speak English or Chinese, one or the other being the dominant tongues most everywhere. It pays to know at least a little of both if you plan to get very far. Of the central planets, Londinium is primarily English-speaking, while Sihnon stands out as a centre of Chinese influence.

Mutt Tongues Hundreds of languages made the great leap from “Earth That Was” and most of them survive in the pockets and ghettos on most worlds. Only rarely, however, will anyone encounter a community that speaks a non-dominant language exclusively.

Cussin' Human beings have happily fouled the gift of language with whatever inventive, vindictive, and insulting expressions they can imagine. While the traditional English swear words have survived intact, a few additional crude words have been added to the common man's vocabulary.

The basics include Gorram or Gorramit ( "Run! It's the gorram law!" ), Rutting or Ruttin' ( "It's gettin' too ruttin' hot in here." ), and Humped* ( "He's got a gun on us. We're humped!" ). Cursing in Chinese is considered more imaginative and expressive, and most everyone does it--at least when his mother has left the room. *this one isn't really used that often. They used it in the pilot about two or three times and then decided to drop it from the dialogue.

Fightin' Words Some speech isn't cursing by the traditional definition, but it will cause fists and bullets to fly just the same. Religion, politics, social class, and wealth are touchy subjects--as is mention of the Unification War. Browncoat Member of the Independent Factions, Independent veteran.

Adopted early in the war by the Independent Factions, a brown coat has become indelibly linked to supporters of the Independents' cause. After the war's end, clothiers made good money dying brown coats blue or grey as folks wanted to forget the past and let the past forget them. Those that still "wear the brown" do it on purpose.

Frontier Slang In English, there are two predominant speech patterns.

"Core Speech" is carefully used and grammatically correct.

"Frontier Slang" sounds sloppy and quaint to the Core speakers, who judge the speaker as poorly educated and low class. Those born outside the Core are more likely to have at least a little of the Frontier in their speech.

Basic Rim World Speech         

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Truncate the "g" for "ing" words. ( "Schoolin" ) Pepper with slang adjectives.

Double negatives. ( "It don't mean nothin' out here" ) Using odd words and word forms in phrases.

Use "don't" instead of "doesn't".

Ain't.

Odd words: druther, yonder, dang, plumb, right smart.

Prefixing on "-ing" ( "a-runnin" ) No -ly on adverbs. ( "She described the plan real simple.

That job's awful hard to do." ) Subject and Verb don't match. ( "We was goin' there.

He got none of that." ) Malformed verbs. ( "He growed up real good. He come by her last night. I seen it with my own eyes. He done run off again." ). This latter sounds a bit like my favourite book from “Earth That Was” – To Kill a Mockingbird – or was it To Kill a Mockingjay? I forget.

A Few Examples --"Looks like we got us some imminent violence."

--"We got no short of ugly ridin' in on us."

--"I'm just feeling kind of truthsome right now."

--"We're in some peril here."

--"We just need a small crew, them as feel the need to be free."

--"This here's a recipe for unpleasantness."

--"I'm shocked my own self."

--"We'll be there directly."

--"But she does have an oddness to her."

Slang: Frontier Life 

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All-fired - completely. ( ex. "Where'd she go gettin' allfired jealous 'bout this?" ) Awful, Dreadful, Mighty, Plumb, Powerful - very, really, or other adjectives for emphasis ( ex. "Gettin' awful crowded in my sky." ) Bang-up - great. ( ex. "They did a bang-up job." ) Bughouse - a mental hospital.

Git - go away.

Peck - A large amount.

Preacher - anyone religious.

Ornery - stubborn, not passive.

Run afoul - to get into trouble.

Shindig - a party, usually with dancing.

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Shiny - good or valuable. ( can also be used as an exclamation. For example, "That's just shiny!" ) Size someone up - judge how tough they are or what their intentions might be.

Tetchy - sensitive or complaining.

Slang: Spacefaring   

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Atmo - atmosphere, as in to "leave atmo."

The black - space Clean your housing - to give a thorough beating ( as in a spaceship's engine housing ) Feds, Federals - Members of the Alliance, its military, law enforcement, or functionaries.

Go to blackout - shut down power on the ship to avoid detection ( done often on Firefly ) On the drift - in space without fuel, unable to travel.

Reavers - madmen who live on the edges of civilised space, flying dangerous ships and preying on other space vessels.

The Rim - frontier planets, not the core.

The 'Verse - inhabited space or the universe.

Being buzzed - sensors from another ship are actively sweeping you.

Slang: Underworld    

Doxy - prostitute.

Drops - illegal, addictive, narcotic drugs.

Second story job - breaking and entering robbery.

Scratch - valuables.

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The goods - loot.

Went south - problems appeared, the plan fell apart.

Tonic - amateur or illegal alcoholic drink.

Bushwhack - ambush.

Footpad - pickpocket thief in a town.

Hornswoggle - to trick someone.

On the dodge - wanted by the police.

Slang: Technical   

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Advocate - a lawyer.

Cortex - wide-spread information network.

Genseed - genetically engineered crop seeds used on freshly terra-formed worlds.

Skyplex - orbital city or space station.

Wave - a communication: text, audio, video, or holographic.

Chinese Phrases The following phrases can be tossed into whatever situation seems most appropriate--or not. These just scratch the surface of Chinese cursing possibilities. While even educated, refined folk swear every now and then, you're more likely to hear most of these phrases out of a freeboosting fringe rat ( which, of course, we all are… ): A knot of self-indulgent lunacy: Fang zong feng kuang de jie A real ba***rd!: Ge zhen de hun dan!

Accusing someone of lying, a ridiculous notion, or talking out of the posterior: Fang pi, literally "to break wind"

Act blindly: Bi se yan jing zhuo ma que, literally "try to catch sparrows with one's eyes blindfolded" Agitate someone out of hiding: Da chow jing ser, literally, "beating the grass to startle the snake" Aah!: Ai ya!

Alas: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake" All talk: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet" All that is proper: Suo you de dou shi dang All the planets in space shoved up my butt: Tai kong suo you de xing qiu sai jin wo de pi gu Alliance: Tong meng An absolute genius: Zhen de shi tian cai Are we clear?: Dong le ma As far as the eye can see: Yi wang wu ji, literally "look afar no bound" A**-kicking killer: Xiong can sha shou Attributing an unfortunate longshot occurrence: Yeh lu jwo duo luh jwohn whei jian gui, literally "do enough nighttime travels and one will eventually see a ghost"; also a warning of future retribution.

Awesome: Gao gan, literally "high pole" AWOL: Kai xiao chai Ba***rd: Hun dan, literally "rotten egg" Big Boss or operator of a business: Lao ban; Lao ban ni'un for a female boss or proprietor's wife. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.

Big Brother, Older Brother: Ge or Ge-Ge, the former is more intimate and connotes a blood relation.

Big stupid pile of stinking meat: Yi dwei da buen chuo roh Big Sister, Older Sister: Jie or Jei-Jei Blessing on you: Zhu fu ni

Blindside or conspire against someone secretly: Fahn leong jian, literally "shoot a cold arrow" Bon Appetit!: Nin chi hao Boss: Lao ban. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.

Boss (Female): Lao ban ni'un. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.

Brilliant: Jing cai Browncoat: Zong yi Cheap floozy: Jian huo Check it out, inspect: Jian cha Check at once: Ma shang jian cha Cheering or urging someone on: Jia you, literally "add fuel", equivalent of "go (name)!" in English.

Cheers: Gan bei, literally "dry cup" Chinese/Mandarin language: Jwohn Guo Hua Cool: Ku Come in, enter: Qing jin Commit blunder of great magnitude: Bie wu long Complete disarray or sheer pandemonium: Tian fuhn di fu, literally "sky tumbles while earth turns over" Completely useless: Tian di wu yong Congratulations: Gong xi Conniving or scheming person: Gui tou gui nao, literally "ghost head ghost brain" Consistently useless: Jing-chang mei yong de Cursing: Ma jung hwa, literally "chastise with dirty words" Cute: Ke ai Damn, my god: Ai ya Damn it: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake" Danger/Dangerous: Wei xian Dangerous person or animal: Wei xian dong wu

Darling: Bao bei Daydream or wishful thinking: Bai ri meng Deserving of bad consequence or fate: Hwo gai Despicable: Kuh wu Do something for nothing in return, or wasted endeavour without a payoff: Yee yan, literally "a charity show".

Done for: Wan dan, literally "finished (cooked) egg" Don't worry: Fang xin Dumbass: Chun, descriptive literally "retarded" Earthshaking: Jing tian dwohn di, literally "startle the sky and shake the earth" Empty Threat: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet" Engage a monkey in a feces-hurling contest: Gen hou zi bi diu shi Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang Everyone shut up!: Ni men dou bi zui!

Everything under the sky: Tian shia, can be used to allude to the world or the universe Excrement: Mi tian gong Explosive diarrhea of an elephant: Da xiang bao zha shi de la du zi Extraordinarily clever: Gao gan, literally "high pole" Extraordinarily impatient Buddha: Zhen mei nai xing de Fo zu Fear nothing but (fill in the blank): Tian bu pa, di bu pa, tze pa...

Fellow: Ja hwo Female companion or girlfriend: Ma tze, a somewhat derogatory slang; add Dow in front for "looking for a girlfriend" Fire!: Kai huo (as in shooting), fen huo (as in starting)

Fire at will or terminate with extreme prejudice: Da kai sa jeh, meaning "breaking the Buddhist vow against killing" Foiled or ruined at the last moment: Soh ya fei tian, expression, literally "a cooked duck flies away" Fool: Sha gua, literally "stupid melonhead", or ben dan, literally "stupid egg" Friend, pal, buddy: Peng you Gang, crew, or confederate of diehards: Se duhng Gang or faction leader: Da gher ga for male, da jeh da for female, slang Garbage: Le se Get bold or audacious: Fang dan, literally "release courage" Get lost: Kwai jio kai Go all out, hold nothing back: Ping ming, literally "fight for one's life" Go away: Kuai qu hen yuan de di fang, literally "go far away very fast" Go die: Chui se Go to hell: Chui se, literally "go die" God knows what / name of all that's sacred: Tian xiao de Good: Hao Good-for-nothing: Bu lang bu you Good journey or bon voyage: Yi lu shun feng, or yi lu ping an Good luck: Ju hao yun Great: Da bian hua, literally "big change" Greetings: Nihao Handsome: Shuai Happy development or fortuitous turn of event: How shi sung chung, literally "a good show's about to start", can be used sarcastically

Have desires above one's social/financial position, or beyond one's ability to realize: Lai huh ma shi yong tze tian e zoh, literally "for a toad to think of eating a swan" Hell: Gui, literally "ghost" Hell, underworld: Di yu Hello: Nihao Hey!: Wei Home wrecking tramp: Hu li jing, literally "fox spirit" Horrible old tyrant: Ke-wu de lao bao jun Hurry or make haste: Gan mang I don't believe my eyes!: Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing I neither see nor hear you: Wo dui ni bu wen bu jian I'm sorry: Dui bu qi Idiot: Ben dan, literally "stupid egg", or chun zhu, literally "retarded pig" Imminent Doom: Wan dan, literally "finished (cooked) egg" Impossible: Bu ke neng Impressive display or visage but no substance: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet" In the doghouse: Leng gong, literally "a cold palace," which is where an emperor confines those concubines who have fallen out of favour In that case, nevermind: Na mei guan xi Jerk: Hun dan, literally "rotten egg" Junk: Fei wu Just our luck: Zhen dao mei Kick me in the butt: Ti wo de pi gu Leader of a criminal operation: She tou, literally "snakehead", derogatory.

Leave one to his own fate: Tze sh'un tze mieh Let me repeat myself: Wuo jai jeong yi chi

Let's take a deep breath: Yi qi shen hu xi Life support failure: Shuhn ming shi t'wohn gu jong Like hell/In your dreams: Jian ta de gui, literally "see his ghost", or jian gui which likely means "seeing ghosts" Little Brother: Di or Di-Di Little Sister: Mei or Mei-Mei Long time no see: Hao joh bu jian Loopy in the head: Feng le, literally "insane" Male companion or boyfriend: Kai tze, also a somewhat derogatory slang Make a big mistake: Bie wu long Make an example of someone: Sha ji gei hou kan, literally "kill a chicken in front of a monkey" Merciful Buddha protect us: Ren ci de Fo zu qing bao you wo men Merciful God, please take me away: Ren ci de shang di, qing dai wo zou Merciless Bastard: Leng xue za zhong, literally "cold-blooded mixed-breed" Merciless Hell: Ai ya tian a!

Mind your own business: Guan ni ziji de shi Miss: xiao jie, literally "little lady." Follows a name when addressing a known person, so River Tam would be addressed as Tam River xiao jie, or simply Tam xiao jie.

Mister: xian sheng, literally "born before me." Follows a name when addressing a known person, so Simon Tam would be addressed as Tam Simon xian sheng, or simply Tam xian sheng.

Moron: Ben dan, literally "stupid egg", or chun zhu, literally "retarded pig"

Muddled, Mixed-up, Confused: Wu tou wu nao, literally "without a head or a brain" No problem: Mei wen ti No way: Cai bu shi (a) Nobody: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier" Nonsense, rubbish, superfluous words: Fei hua Not advised: Quan gao bu yi Not enough: Bu gou, or Hai bu gou for "not enough yet" Not good: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake" Not keeping a rendezvous: Fang ge zi, literally "release a pigeon" but insinuating not picking up the bird at the destination.

Not much of a choice between the two: Ban jin ba liang Nothing ventured, nothing gained: Bu ru hu xue yan de hu zi, literally "how can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair" Now, immediately: Ma shang Nuts: Shiang Jing Ping, or just Shiang Jing; Fah Shiang Jing for "going nuts" Nuts: Kuang zhe de, literally "crazy" Oddball or Goof: Chai Neow Of course: Dang ran Oh, this is a happy development: O, zhe zhen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan Oh God, no: Lao tian, bu Oh my God: Wo de tian a Okay: Hao Old: Lao Old friend: Lao peng you Old man / husband: Lao gong

Old lady / wife: Lao po One must be ruthless to be great: Wu du bu zhong fu, literally "a person without poison is not a great man" Out of touch with reality: Bi mu se ting, "shut one's eyes and stop up one's ears" Outdo someone or doing one better: Dao-gao-yee-chi mohgao-yee-juhn, expression, literally "the solution advances a yard, the problem advances a mile" Over my dead body: Chu fei wo si le Pal: Lao xiong, "old chap", between male friends Panda urine: Xiong mao niao Paranoid, extremely suspicious: Bei gong she ying, literally "mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake" Pathetic wretch: Bei bi xiao ren, literally "shameless little dirty person" Peon: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier" Petty: Suo xi Prehistoric: Lao Diu Ya, literally "so old as to lose all teeth" Pig's Sty: Zhu fuen chse Plain, bland, bare: Yong chwen mien, slang taken from the namesake generic, flavorless noodle dish.

Please be quiet: Qing an jing yi dien Precious: Bao bei Real man, manly man: Nan zi han Really Dangerous: Wei xian, more poetic, wo hu chung long, which is "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" and expression for something dangerous.

Remorseless harridan: Bu hui hen de po fu Retreat, run away: Jio weh sung chiuh, phrase summarizing the last of the Chinese "36 Stratagems", which extols the virtue of fleeing to fight another day.

Ridiculously strange, illogical or nonsensical: Mo ming qi miao, literally "not understanding the peculiarity" Ruined, finished: Wan dan le Ruthless or savage beast of a person: Ching soh Scoundrel: Huai dan, literally "bad egg" Shiny, awesome, fantastic: Jahn!

Shut up: Bi zui Shut up (as in, 'Get out' or 'yeah right'): Hu che Shut up, all of you!: Ni men dou bi zui!

Shut up and make us wealthy: Bi zui, rong wo men fa cai Shut up, you inconsiderate schoolboys!: Bi zui, nin hen bu ti tie de nan sheng!

Sir: Da yeh. When used as a nobility, Nuhn Jwei, following the name.

Small fry: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier" So guilty as to deserve a thousand deaths: Jwei gai wang se SOB: Wang ba dan, or gou neong yung de for a more literal and vicious translation.

Speak now and quickly: Yo hua kuai so Speaking without a clue: Xia hua, literally "blind talk" Splendid: Jing cai Stop talking: Ju kou Stubborn disciplinarian: Pian zhi de jie cha yuan Stupid: Yu ben de Stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey: Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi Stupid inbred sack of meat: Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou Sweetheart: Bao bei Swindle: Guai Suicidal idea: Zu sha zhu yi

Surrender, give up: Tou xiang Take care, stay healthy: Bao zhong, literally "maintain weight" Talk nonsense: Shia suo Teacher: Lao shi Thanks: Xie xie There's nothing in this plan that isn't horrific: Zhe ge ji hua zhen ke pa Things never go smooth: Hao yun bu lai, huai yun bu jwo, literally "good luck don't come, bad luck don't leave" Time out!: Yi qi shen hu xi, literally "Let's take a deep breath" To throw in a monkey wrench: Gwai ma jiao, literally "twist a horse's legs (while it's galloping)" Too bad: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake" Trouble, problem, complication: Ma fan Troublemaker: Wan nao Tyrant, iron-fisted ruler: Ba wang Understand: Dong, dong ma for "understand?" dong le ma for "are we clear here?"

Unnecessarily complicating something, or overdoing it: Hua she tian zu, literally "draw a snake and add feet to it" Urine-soaked demons (or something to the effect): Niao shi de du-gui Very: Fei chang Violent lunatic: Xiong meng de kuang ren Vixen: Hu li jing, literally "fox spirit" Wah!: Wa, an exclamation, meaning the sound of vomiting.

Wait/hold on a second: Deng yi miao Warning someone against doing things 'the hard way': Jing zhou bu chi chi fa zhou, literally "choosing to sip the wine of penalty over that of respect"

Watch your back: Zhen ta ma yao ming. Zhu yi. Literally "this is pretty da**ed dangerous. Pay attention" Water: Shui We will enjoy your silence now: Bai tuo, an jing yi dian We're in big trouble: Ai ya wo men wan le What?: Shen me What is that?: Na shi shen me?

What is this?: Zhe shi shen me?

What a mess: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake" What is this garbage?: Zhe shi shen me lan dong xi?

Whores in hell!: Ta shi suo you di yu de diao zi de ma!, literally "she is the mother of all prostitutes in hell" Whores of SOBs: Wang ba dan de biao zi Wonderful!: Pai an jiao jue, literally "slap the table and shout with praise" Yes, affirmative: Shi a You don't deserve it: Ni bu ying de zhe ge, or Ni bu gou ge You fink/wretch/etc: Ni hun qiu You want a bullet right in your throat?: Ni yao wo kai qiang You wanna die?: Ni zhao si ma?

You're all idiots: Ni men dou shi sha gua, literally "all of you are foolish" Young one: Nian qing de, or ying chi, slang for underaged (literally "infant teeth") Fly the Boat – Malcolm Reynolds signing off‌