屁 (pì): fart

Meanings

1 fart
2 nonsense
3 bullshit

Characters

屁

pì

fart; nonsense

Examples

HSK 1

谁放屁了？

Shéi fàngpì le?

Who farted?

HSK 1

他说的都是屁话。

Tā shuō de dōu shì pìhuà.

Everything he said is nonsense.

HSK 2

你懂个屁！

Nǐ dǒng gè pì!

You don't know shit!

Tips

usage

屁 is used literally (fart) and as a vulgar intensifier meaning 'not at all' or 'nonsense'. 放屁 literally means 'to fart' but also means 'bullshit!'. 屁话 = nonsense talk.

grammar

In the pattern verb + 个屁, 屁 acts as a dismissive negator: 懂个屁 (know nothing), 有个屁用 (completely useless).

Components

radical

尸 shī

body; corpse

Top body radical (Kangxi #44) - originally a picture of a seated person with bent body, NOT primarily 'corpse' (that meaning came later). In compounds 尸 indexes body-related characters, especially anything to do with bodily output: 尾 tail, 屎 feces, 尿 urine, 屁 fart. The radical's domain is the body and its lower functions.

phonetic

比 bǐ

compare (here phonetic)

Bottom 比 supplies the sound - bǐ → pì, within the labial b/p series. Pure phonetic loan; the 'compare' meaning is inert. Same phonetic in 批 (group), 毗 (adjoin). 比 itself depicts two figures standing side by side - visually unrelated to 屁's meaning but a memorable shape.