Personal Asian Terms Glossary [Unfinished]

ShinyVaporeon's Codex of Asian Vocab/Slang (Currently just Chinese with a few Korean, actually)

NOTE 1/1/2022: I've been lax with updating this recently...and I will probably continue to be.
NOTE 1/3/2022: The post is getting kinda long so I might split it up later. It's still super incomplete, too *sigh*

MC = main character

ML = male lead (usually main male love interest)

FL = female lead

FMC = female main character

CN, JP, KR = Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, respectively

HE = happy ending

BE = bad ending

CP = couple/character pairing, borrowed from the Chinese term.

I'm sure plenty of people have already thought of this and made one, but I decided to do it too. Why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I strive to do even better than Immortal Mountain in my glossary. It'll probably take a while...
Actually, Immortal Mountain goes really in-depth with the terms. I'll probably just be giving my terms a quick summary, and then link Immortal Mountain's articles. Currently, this one is more about strange terms, while Immortal Mountain's is very much a glossary of Xianxia and Chinese culture stuff.

Mostly Chinese, because I know Chinese, but some other stuff as well too, later hopefully. Only providing stuff that doesn't have an easy translation into English, so slang that, if translated literally, doesn't make much sense. At this point, when I see a term in a CN I don't know, I'll dig up info about it and put it in here, it's never-ending. Most of the information here comes from online research by myself in combination with terms I see in translated novels. So you won't see some terms here that are common use in normal language but rarer in novels, since those are my main source.

The index of slang is useful for reading more loosely translated novels that won't completely translate such terms, but it's probably even more useful for reading MTL. Well-translated novels usually explain these terms or do away with most of them, so there's not much need for this glossary if you plan on reading exclusively on official translation sites.

On the other hand, I plan to do more of an in-depth article later on tropes and such that one might find in novels but understand the meaning of, so yeah, like Immortal Mountain. And I probably won't limit it to Xianxia lore. But that's all in the future.

Chinese Terms
BTW: when I say 'homonym' here, it means the pinyin without tone is the same. Tones may still differ.
Terms are linked to Baidu's dictionary or Wikipedia for further info. Later, I will add pinyin with tones...but I'm too lazy, hence the 'later'.
Also, my Chinese here is a mess, so it might be traditional or simplified.

Commonly seen Chinese slang, often internet slang (网络语言):

Links: Baidu, Wiktionary, Wikipedia
(I feel like whenever I see Chinese slang now, I'll double-check if it's in here or not xD)

Face (面子): term meaning the dignity/honor/pride/reputation of a person or group. Note: 脸(lian) is slightly different from 面子(mianzi). Both can mean dignity, and they share that meaning in this context, but they can also refer to the social facade of a person as well their physical face.

Lose face (丢脸): to lose dignity or suffer a blow to the reputation

Save face (保面子): to save someone (usually yourself) from losing face

Give face (给面子): to humor someone or not cause them to lose face despite being able to

Not wanting face (不要脸): refusing (possibly indirectly) an attempt to give face.

Face-slap (打脸): to publicly humiliate by proving the victim(s) wrong. In essence, making someone eat their own words.

Thick face/Thick skinned (脸皮厚): the ability to be shameless, not value face, or be able to stand not having face.

Thin face/Thin-skinned (脸皮薄): the opposite of having a thick face or thick skin, a thin-skinned person would be sensitive or concerned about their reputation.

In Chinese, sourness (酸) often refers to envy or jealousy, so things that taste sour are often related to those feelings.

Eat vinegar (吃醋): get jealous (usually of a love rival or perceived love rival). Eating [person]'s vinegar means to get jealous of [person].

Vinegar jar (醋坛子) is often used to refer to people who get jealous easily/often.

Lemon spirit (柠檬精): a person who gets jealous easily or is currently very jealous. The jing (精) character in this context refers to a demon or spirit; the kind in Chinese mythology that gains powers after cultivation. A lemon spirit would be a lemon plant that has cultivated.

Eat tofu (吃豆腐): take advantage of someone (usually like mild sexual harassment, usually used lightheartedly). Eating [person]'s tofu means to take advantage of [person].

Eating watermelon (吃瓜): Watching the show. Usually used when describing online drama.

Melon (瓜): the drama being watched.

Melon-eating masses (吃瓜群众): the people watching the show.

Mensao (闷骚): apparently a transliteration of English "man show". It's an adjective that describes people who ordinarily appear emotionless or calm but actually have a passionate side.

Meng (萌): means cute. The meaning is from Japanese 'moe'.

Selling meng (卖萌): to deliberately act cute

Wear a green hat (戴绿帽子): get cheated on/cuckolded.

A phrase that's common to the point where anything green above/on people's heads implies that they're 'wearing a green hat'. Green glows on people's heads and green clouds above their heads are both similar expressions.

Holy mother/saintess (圣母): originally meaning a benevolent female who would sacrifice themselves for others, but now also sarcastically used as a metaphor for those putting up a front of benevolence.

Green tea b*tch (绿茶婊): A person (usually female) who acts innocent/pure but actually isn't.

White lotus (白蓮花, simplified: 白莲花): originally a metaphor for a pure or innocent person, but now can be used sarcastically in a way similar to green tea b*tch.

Little white flower (小白花): the classic pure, naive, delicate, and unselfish heroine (sometimes male).

White moonlight (白月光): [person]'s white moonlight would be a person that [person] loves, but is unable to be with for some reason.

Green plums and bamboo horse (青梅竹马): an idiom meaning childhood sweetheart.

Often shortened to just bamboo horse (竹马)

Mandarin duck/yuanyang (鸳鸯): due to the animals' tendency of mating for life, they are often associated in East Asian culture with fidelity, love, and lovers (and also to a lesser extent, the R-18 stuff lovers do with each other).

Cut sleeve (断袖): homosexual or homosexuality, based on the idiom 断袖之癖.

School grass/School flower (校草/校花): the most attractive or popular male/female student in the school or campus. Often translated as school/campus beau/belle.

Also has the variant Class grass/Class flower (班草/班花), which has the same kind of meaning, but for one class rather than the whole school.

Male god/Goddess (男神/女神): very attractive male/female, usually considered an idol or role model of some sort.

God (神) is also often used for those extremely good at something -- study gods, for example, and can be used almost like honorifics as well for those extremely respected in a certain field.

Mary Sue (玛丽苏): meaning comes from the English "Mary Sue" term. In Chinese, it refers to people (usually female) who are too perfect or too charming, both as a compliment and sarcastically. Also denotes media that feature Mary Sue main characters.

Often shortened to just the Sue (苏, pinyin su) character.

Mary Sue also has a male counterpart in Chinese -- Jack Sue (杰克苏).

Fragrant pastry/delicious cake (香饽饽): a person or thing that is popular or in high demand.

Little fresh meat (小鲜肉): a young and handsome man.

Red (红): other than the color and political meanings associated with it, also means popular.

Wanghong (网红): literally "[inter]net red", refers to social media influencers and other idols that achieve fame through the internet rather than other media.

Spare tire (备胎): a fallback love interest.

Halo (光环): also translated as 'Aura'. Refers to the invisible influence or appeal that surrounds something. Often used with character tropes: main character halo, etc.

White-eyed wolf (白眼狼): a person who is ungrateful or even actively hurts their benefactor; in short, one who violates the reciprocity norm.

Dog blood (狗血): cliched or cheesy, especially a development or plot. Often melodramatic as well.

Shura/asura field (修罗场): a scene of (usually love-related) melodramatic conflict. Originally meaning the pits of death between Shura/asura in actual Buddhist mythology. Eventually coming to mean a bloody battlefield, it also can mean the life-and-death struggles of a person.

Single dog (单身狗): often used by single people to mock themselves

Dog food (狗粮): PDA, or displays of affection in front of single people (dogs).

Spicy chicken (辣鸡): homonym of 垃圾(which means "trash")

Dinosaur (恐龙): a very ugly girl or woman

Lucky E / Luck E (幸运E): In the same sort of meaning as 'E-grade luck', as in very a bad luck stat. Originates from the Fate series of games.

Bear child (熊孩子): a naughty or annoying child.

Black belly/black-bellied (腹黑): used to describe those that are secretly sly/manipulative.

Blacken (黑化): to become or makes someone become malicious or manipulative/lose their kindheartedness or innocence.

Water army (水军): shortened from 'internet water army'(网络水军), refers to people hired online to manipulate public opinion while pretending to be ordinary netizens. Can also mean 'navy'.

50-cent army (五毛党): refers to people (supposedly) hired online to spread CCP propaganda.

River crab (河蟹): euphemism for Chinese government censorship, from being a homonym harmonious (和谐), a term often also used as a euphemism for censorship.

Powder/fan (粉): a fan or follower, usually online, perhaps from similarity in pronunciation (pinyin fen)

Cellophane noodles (粉丝): fans/followers as a group, perhaps from similarity in pronunciation (pinyin fensi)

Black powder/fan (黑粉): an anti-fan.

Moron powder/fan (脑残粉): an especially enthusiastic fan

Zombie powder/fan (僵尸粉): fake fans or followers, meaning those hired to be followers, or bots.

Mom powder (亲妈粉): a mom fan. So a fan that sees themselves as their idol's mom.

Rainbow fart (彩虹屁): excessive flattery, usually by a fan to an idol.

Patting horse's butt (拍马屁): also means flattery or brown-nosing, although it's a much more rude way of expressing it.

Licking dog (舔狗): a yes-man or shamelessly loyal follower.

Dog leg (狗腿子): a minion or accomplice of a powerful individual, especially a bad one.

Thigh-hugging (抱大腿): to curry favor or rely on [someone powerful].

Thigh (大腿): the someone powerful being relied on.

Golden thigh (金大腿): a very powerful or reliable person to thigh-hug.

Golden finger (金手指): a cheat. Can be a power, a powerful item, or even a powerful person.

Silk pants (纨绔): children of wealthy people

Rich second-generation (富二代): similar meaning as silk pants, but usually specific to very rich, and might not be children. This term also carries negative connotations, with rich second-generation usually being portrayed as prodigal and spoiled.

Rice worm/weevil (米虫): useless or unproductive person who's a waste of food, derogatory.

Tall, rich, and handsome (高富帅): refers to males that basically have it all. Often overlaps with male god.

Short and poor (矮穷矬): the opposite of tall, rich and handsome.

Three views (三观): refers to the views of life, the world, and values. Often used to express how strange/new/weird something is by saying it breaks their three views.

Scram (滚开): also translated as 'get lost', or 'go to hell' if it's rude. Literally means 'roll away'.

Sometimes shortened to just the 'roll' character, Gun(滚).

Lightbulb (电灯泡): third wheel

Add oil (加油): sometimes directly transliterated into 'jiayou', the pinyin, it's an expression used to cheer others on, like 'hang in there', 'keep it up', or 'you can do it'.

Carry a black pot (背黑锅): take the blame for someone/something. Sometimes shortened to just 'carry a pot' (背锅).

Black pot hero (黑锅俠/黑锅侠): a person who often takes the blame.

Loli (萝莉): exactly what it looks like. A transliteration of 'loli'.

-con (控): you know, the -con at the end of siscon, burrowed from Japanese. The character itself has other meanings, though.

妹控: siscon (younger sister)

姐控: siscon (older sister)

兄控: brocon (older brother)

弟控: brocon (younger brother)

颜控: face-con, one who is especially attracted to pretty faces.

萝莉控: lolicon

Pig trotter/pig foot (猪脚): homonym of 主角, meaning protagonist or lead role. Often used playfully or sarcastically in self-deprecating humor.

Sometimes shortened to male/female pig (男猪/女猪), which is short for the male and female lead roles (男主/女主)

PY: Stands for 屁眼 (piyan), which means butthole. Used to describe shady transactions.

Climb a wall (翻墻/爬墙): can alternately mean to circumvent the Great Firewall, or to betray a lover. In fan culture this is used to refer to 'betraying' an idol by becoming a fan of a different one. Climbing someone's wall means betraying your former idol for the person whose wall you're climbing.

The Great Firewall (防火长城): the term used for measures the Chinese government uses to regulate online information in China via censorship.

The latter definition originates from 红杏出墙, literally 'red apricot grows outside of the wall', which basically means someone is cheating/being unfaithful.

Dig corners (撬墙脚): refers to stealing someone else's people--usually in a romantic sense, as in wooing a 'taken' person, but also the recruiting of others' employees or allies.

Good person card (好人卡): refers to the rejection by a love interest with the "You're a good person, but I don't love you".

No zuo no die (不作不死/不作死就不会死): most often used in its pure Chinglish form but can also be found in the Chinese versions. Means "if you don't provoke, you won't die".

sometimes abbreviated to NZND.

Turtle hair (龟毛): Taiwanese term referring to people who pay excessive attention to detail and are prone to nitpicking.

Straight man cancer (直男癌): a male chauvinist or male chauvinism.

Eight Trigrams/Bagua (八卦): Other than referring to the daoist symbol, also means to gossip.

Salted fish (咸鱼): originally slang for corpse, eventually came to denote those who acted like corpses--sluggish, lethargic, apathetic, or tired.

Pit (坑): a trap or bad situation.

Digging pits (挖坑): to set traps or plot to put someone in a bad situation. Occasionally abbreviated to just the 'pit'. In this case, it is still used as a verb.

Additionally, pits are sometimes used to refer to unfinished works, especially those that have gone on for a long time with many hiatuses, like Hunter×Hunter. In this case, digging a pit would mean starting a work, and filling a pit would mean finishing it.

Brain hole (脑洞) & Brain pit (脑坑): Both refer to the perceived problems a person's brain might have, usually lightheartedly and referring to overactive imaginations or overthinking. However, the brain hole is considered generally more positive than the brain pit.

Saying someone's brain has a pit (脑子有坑) is generally seen as more offensive than saying that their brain hole's really large (脑洞真大). Although at first glance they look similar, the first is like calling someone stupid, while the second can be seen as praising their creativity, albeit in a rude way.

Wide open brain hole (脑洞大开): refers to creative/creativity, often to the point of ridiculousness.

Floor/building (楼): in normal Chinese, can refer to either a floor of a building, or a storied building with multiple floors. In forums, it often refers to a thread (a building), or a single post (a floor). Forum people often refer to a poster by which "floor" they replied on -- eg. floor 28.

Building owner (楼主): the original poster of a thread

Floor above (楼上): the poster above/before

Floor below (楼下): the poster below/after

There is also furniture, which represents the first, second, and third replies/posts on the thread. Sometimes, this is connected with the building analogy as furniture is present in the building:

Sofa (沙发): the first post/poster or reply/replier

Stool (板凳): likewise, the second one

Floorboard (地板): the third one

Dive (潜水): to lurk around

Often you'll see terms like 'phoenix eyes' or 'peach blossom eyes'. (For more information, check these Chinese articles out.) Here's a handy picture for your needs:

Source: https://zeldacw.tumblr.com/post/644803709003497472/i-sketched-various-eye-shapes-that-were-often

Face shapes are also sometimes mentioned: here's another pic. Usually, in China, the melon seed and goose egg faces are considered the most aesthetic, for women. Squarish faces are more masculine.

Source: https://ltl-school.com/learn-chinese/chinese-beauty-face-standards/

Beauty standards: although there's now some change, lighter skin is usually considered more attractive. Among other things, so is having a small mouth (for females), big eyes, straight nose, and for some reason, a small face.
In terms of figure, the standards are much the same as in the west. Although, I guess it's considered more attractive for a girl to be petite? I'm not too sure.

Wuwuwu (呜呜呜): sorrowful or moved crying.

Yingyingying (嘤嘤嘤): pitiful (and often fake) crying, kind of like boohoo.

Zezeze (啧啧啧): disapproving or mocking laughter

Pei (呸): sound of spitting

MMD: stands for momoda(么么哒) which is Chinese onomatopoeia for the kissing sound, like "muah" in English.

8: considered a lucky number in Chinese tradition.

4: homonym of 'death' or 'dead' (死), considered an unlucky number. It's also used in front of insults to make them more severe. ie. 438 is worse than just 38.

5: similar-sounding to 'me' (我)

6: homonym of 'cool' (溜), also sounds a little like the Chinese character 了, which indicates past tense.

2: occasionally used to call people stupid.

555: homonym of the 'wuwuwu' (呜呜呜) crying noise

666: as noted before, 6 is a homonym of 溜, which means cool. 666, or more 6's in a row, means really cool, basically. Nothing to do with the devil or whatever. Commonly used in Chinese gaming, kind of like 'pog', I guess?

233: laughing, like 'hahaha'. More 3's in a row is more laughing.

95 or 995: similar-sounding to 'save me' (救我/救救我)

88: homonym of 'dad' (爸爸), also sounds similar to bye-bye, so it's used in that manner as well.

38: refers to women, carries negative connotations.

250: refers to stupid people.

520: sounds similar to "I love you" (我爱你)

1314: sounds like 'this lifetime and beyond' (一生一世), often used with 520.

996: a type of work schedule where employees work from 9 AM to 9 PM, 6 days a week.

715: another work schedule where employees work 15 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This might seem like a lot, but there are many more out there...this is just a tiny fraction xD
For more, just go google "Chinese number slang", there's even a Wikipedia article (Chinese numerology) about it.

Mostly reaction memes. Due to the prevalence of stickers in Chinese messaging apps (mostly WeChat), reaction memes are very common. It's not rare to see a character react with "indifferent.jpg" in a novel, either. In those cases, it's mimicking a reaction sticker.

A very well-known Chinese meme featuring a still of Fu Erkang (福尔康) from My Fair Princess (还珠格格). In the still, Fu Erkang is saying "Don't go!", which pretty much sums up the meaning of the reaction meme.

Starting from the confused Nick Young meme, there are now a few varieties out there in China, especially since the name of the meme is pretty vague; any black person looking confused fits the bill. Add question marks, and you've got a confused reaction meme.

A still of Ge You (葛优) slouching, from the show I Love My Family (我爱我家). Used to express apathy and laziness.

More TBA~

Some of these terms may be NSFW, beware. I won't be censoring them.
(no, I'm not going to include the infinite number of euphemisms for genitalia).

Heiheihei (嘿嘿嘿) & Papapa (啪啪啪): euphemisms for intercourse

Heiheihei is a laughing noise, papapa is a slapping noise, in this case most likely of flesh against flesh.

Saoji/Flirty chicken (骚鸡): sometimes just chicken(鸡) refers to people who drool over men. The term originates from the fact that chicken(鸡) was used to refer to prostitutes. The catchphrase of saojis online is apparently "I can (我可以)", used to reply to pictures of handsome guys, with the implied "roll in the sheets with that guy".

Chicken cage warning (鸡笼警告): used to threaten a saoji.

Old driver (老司机): someone who is experienced in something, usually dating or intercourse

Drive (开车): to make sexual innuendos

Yellow (黄): euphemism for pornography or erotic content. Yellow books = porn books. Yellow film = porn film.

Spring (春): means youth, passion, and love, but also sexual stuff.

Spring dream (春梦): an erotic dream or fantasy.

Chrysanthemum gate (菊花门): butthole or anus

most often seen abbreviated to just chrysanthemum (菊花).

Dual/paired cultivation (双修): a cultivation method involving two individuals transferring energy between them to further cultivation of one or both, often sexual. See Immortal Mountain's article for more details.

Cauldron/furnace (炉鼎/鼎炉): in the context of dual cultivation, the individual who benefits less or is taken advantage of, especially a dehumanized one. Sometimes translated as a 'human cauldron'.

Strawberry (草莓): slang for hickey

Your sister (你妹): exclamation used to express embarrassment or anger.

MDZZ: short for Madezhizhang(妈的智障). Basically means "what an idiot" or "that's stupid". Not really an explicit swear but still pretty rude.

MMP (Baidu): short for Mamaipi(妈卖批), a swear from Sichuan. Means "your mom's a prostitute", as 批(batch) is a censored form of 屁(butt), making it literally mean "mom sells butt".

TMD: short for Tamade(他妈的), a swear (literally, 'his mom'), but also occasionally short for Tianmide(甜蜜的), which means 'sweet', or Tingmengde(挺萌的), which means 'pretty cute'.

Niubi (牛逼): sometimes written as 牛B or NB, means badass or awesome, and is considered a mild swear word. It's is a censored form of 牛屄 (which means 'cow vagina'), as bi(逼) has the same pronunciation as bi(屄).

Biantai (变态): means 'psycho' as well as 'pervert', with the latter meaning coming from Japanese hentai, which has the same characters.

Cao (操): originally used to substitute for 肏, meaning 'fuck', since they are pronounced in the same way, back when 肏 wasn't available in digital format. The character itself serves as a surname and means 'to hold'', but has taken on the 'fuck' meaning now.

Wo cao (我操): your standard 'fuck' curse, sometimes translated as FML or WTF. May be censored into 臥槽, which has a similar pronunciation.

Fuck your mom (操你妈): fairly explicit curse.

Grass mud horse/Alpaca (草泥馬/草泥马): homonym of 操你妈, used as a censored/humorous version. Often used in this format: [number] grass mud horses galloped by. It can also be translated as alpaca.

Fuck your eight generations of ancestors (操你祖宗十八代): when the situation says 'fuck your mom' is not enough.

Kao (靠): can be censored form of 尻, meaning 'anus'. Also used as a censored form of Cao(肏), which, if you recall, means 'fuck'.

Wo kao (我靠): curse exclamation (usually considered more mild than 我操).

Your mom (你妈/你娘): perhaps short for 'fuck your mom'. Fairly standard curse, used so much that 你妈 has its own censored version - 尼玛.

Gan (干): has many meanings, including dry. It also means 'fuck'.

Ri (日): other than meaning 'day' and 'sun', at also means 'fuck'.

Wuxiaworld's Chinese idiom & phrases glossary, since it has a lot of stuff I didn't cover, generally that shows up in xianxia-type novels that I don't read as often. Xianxia generally has more flowery language, so it's a really comprehensive glossary for that, as compared to mine that's filled with more modern internet slang.

Wuxiaworld's Basic Dao Primer, because I honestly don't that much about Daoism. Helpful for deciphering those strange descriptions when xianxia characters get revelations and start spouting nonsense.

Vocab related to fiction (genres, tropes, etc):
Helpful links:

Epithetic's translation of 17k's genre/novel categories: immortalmountain, google doc

First Chapter Translations' JJWXC tag guide/translation: part 1, part 2

Lingson & Deathblade's translation of Qidian categories: link

Xianxia (仙侠): a genre involving immortal cultivation (修行/修真/修仙), where cultivators strive to comprehend the Dao (this is why cultivators refer to each other as 'fellow daoists') and achieve immortality, or ascend. Usually, it is more fantastical than Wuxia. Literally, it translates as immortal heroes.
Examples: I Shall Seal the Heavens (我欲封天), A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (凡人修仙传), Zhu Xian/Jade Dynasty (诛仙)

Wuxia (武侠): a genre involving heroes adventuring about the martial world (in Chinese, that's Wulin (武林, literally 'martial forests'), and it means the world specific to martial artists. Similar is Jianghu (江湖, literally 'rivers and lakes'), which basically just means the chaotic outside world). This setting usually resembles ancient China, so Wuxia often overlaps with historical fiction. Often contains themes of chivalry and heroism (as in classical wuxia), and has supernatural elements. Literally, it translates as martial heroes. Also quite prevalent as genre of Korean novels, where martial world is Murim 무림/武林 (yup, same characters as Wulin).
Examples: The Nine Cauldrons (九鼎记), The Grandmaster Strategist (一代军师), Rebirth of The Heavenly Demon (환생천마)

Xuanhuan (玄幻): a very vague fantasy genre using elements of Eastern mythos in its worldbuilding. It may have influences from sci-fi, western fantasy, etc. Often distinguished from xianxia with the lack of the Dao.
Examples: Battle Through the Heavens (斗破苍穹), Tales of Demons and Gods (妖神记), Martial World (武极天下)

Qihuan (奇幻): A very vague fantasy genre that encapsulates soft sci-fi fantasy, steampunk, and western fantasy, including traditional sword and magic. Differs from Kehuan (科幻) or sci-fi with inclusion of fantasy elements.
(Honestly speaking I don't know why Lord of the Mysteries is listed as xuanhuan on Qidian, it has nearly no eastern mythos, I totally thought it would be qihuan.)
Examples: Black Iron's Glory (重生之黑铁的荣耀), Release That Witch (放开那个女巫), Warlock of the Magus World (巫界术士)

Danmei (耽美): Chinese term for BL. Literally means 'admiring beauty'.

纯爱, which literally translates to 'pure love', is also sometimes used to refer to BL.

Lily (百合): other than the flower, also means GL.

Very common tropes/premises, sometimes categorized as genres, but better described as tags:

System (系统): A type of novel involving the use of a system, which often provides abilities and benefits in exchange for completing tasks. Sometimes, the system is a sentient AI and can be considered its own character as well.

Transmigration/Traversal (穿越): It doesn't mean transmigration exactly, rather, 穿越 means to travel through time or space. It can be translated as 'crossing' or 'traversing'. In abbreviations, it's often shortened to just the character Chuan (穿), which can also mean 'wear' as well as 'go through'. Hence, MTL often mistakes 穿 for meaning 'wear'.

Quick transmigration (快穿): a sort of world-hopping + system genre where the main character travels to different settings to complete some sort of mission with their system.

Book transmigration (书穿): exactly what it looks like, transmigrating into a book.

Reverse transmigration (反穿): since transmigration is usually a modern protagonist transmigrating somewhere else, this means a protagonist from somewhere else transmigrating to modern times.

"Transmigrate into" would be translated as "穿成".

Unlimited Flow (无限流): Sometimes translated as 'infinite style' or 'infinite flow'. Similar to quick transmigration, but worlds are usually linked in some way, and a system is not always present. Usually involves escape/survival games and horror.

Originated from the novel Terror Infinity (无限恐怖).

Group Drama (群像剧): a type of novel with multiple protagonists, whose stories converge to advance the main story.

Reincarnation/Rebirth (重生): a character is born again or continues to live after dying. Can overlap with transmigration by reincarnating in another body, another world, or back/forward in time. As it includes being reborn in your own body, second chance can be considered its subtag.

Another world (异界): same characters as Japanese 'isekai'. Means, well, another world. Obviously, has a great overlap with transmigration/traversal as that's the only way to get your character into one.

Eunuch (太监): besides referring to actual eunuchs, it also refers to novels that the author did not write an ending for.

Character role (Chinese: 角色) names in Chinese (because why not):

主角: Main character or protagonist

男主/女主: Male/female main character

炮灰: Often translated as cannon fodder, refers to throwaway characters used to advance the plot, especially ones that die or have bad endings.

男配/女配: Male/female supporting character

男二/女二: Second male/female lead

反派: Villain or antagonist

Harem (后宫): exactly what it looks like it means. Just thought it'd be useful to leave here.

YY: short for Yiyin (意淫), meaning unrealistic fantasies and wish fulfilment. So, a YY novel is a wish fulfilment novel, basically.

Shuangwen (爽文): similar meaning to YY, shuangwen uses Shuang the character for cool/relaxed/satisfied (爽) to describe a literary work. It's a derogatory term, and it basically means the protagonist has it really easy throughout the text, and it's meant to make the reader feel 'shuang'.

Xiaobaiwen (小白文): literally 'little white text', it means a simple, uncomplicated, and perhaps filler-y novel (white in Chinese also means plain).

Stallion novel (种马文): refers to specific kind of YY harem novel where the harem members don't have depth, and the MC has a big harem.

Tianwen (甜文): literally 'sweet text', it means a fluffy novel with a happy ending.

Derivative (衍生): based off of another work, basically fanfiction.

Light novel (轻小说): direct translation of Japanese 'ライトノベル', also meaning light novel.

CP: short for 'couple'. A work with no CP (无CP) means there isn't a main couple and usually denotes a work with no romance or no lasting romantic relationships involving the protagonist.

(Here's Immortal Mountain's article on general terms of address in Chinese, and a more expansive list of terms. Wuxiaworld's copy of Immortal Mountain's page is here. Nyamichi's article on Ancient Chinese Ranks and Titles is here.)

General honorifics, names, and family terms of address:

General:

Qianbei (前辈): Senior. Usually in greater in age, but can also be greater in skill, time in the field, etc. Equivalent to Japanese senpai.

Wanbei (晚辈): Junior. Equivalent to Japanese kouhai.

Shifu (师傅): used to address those of a skilled profession, not your teacher. Distinct from the shifu meaning teacher/master (师父).

Xiansheng (先生): Usually translated as 'sir' or 'mister'. Literally means 'born before [me]', it used to be used to address teachers, professionals, and people of authority, but now can be used to address most males, although it still somewhat formal. Also means 'husband'. It's sometimes abbreviated to 'xs'.

Comrade (同志): used when addressing others in the CCP, but now also implies membership the LGBT community

Classmate (同学): other than meaning those in the same class, it can also mean those in the same school, any student, and even just a companion.

Family and similar honorifics:
(note that China is huge, and terms of address differ by region. I can't cover all of them, but I'll do my best. I'm only going into the terms one would use for those outside their family as well)
For more information - TutorMing
Here is TutorMing's family tree of terms:

(note that, again terms of address differ by region, so TutorMing's terms of address doesn't cover all variants. I, for example, refer to my maternal grandmother as 外婆 and not 姥姥. Many areas call their parents 爹 and 娘 instead of 爸 and 妈)

Usually, repeating a character of this kind indicates closeness (哥哥 is closer than just 哥).

In families, siblings can be addressed by their order of birth:

If I have two older brothers, one younger brother, and one younger sister, who is the youngest, my siblings would be, in order:

Oldest brother (大哥)

Second [older] brother (二哥)

[me]

Fourth [younger] brother (四弟)

Youngest sister (小妹)

the above also applies for uncles and aunts, and other relatives with sibling relationships. so my father's youngest brother would by my 小叔.

The character Xiao(小), which literally means 'little', is also used as a term of endearment, often appended to the beginning of a surname or name for a nickname. It also indicates that the addressor is more senior, or that the one being addressed is younger.

similarly used is the character Ah(阿)

Often, in a family clan, all children of one generation would have the same first syllable of their given name. So, say my name is 陈千红 - 陈 would be the family name, 千 would be the generation name and the first character of my given name, and 红 would be the only character exclusive to myself. Note that this is somewhat old-fashioned.

If you read a historical novel, characters may have an assortment of strange names other than their normal surname(姓) and given name(名). I'll break them down below: (Chinese link#1 and link#2 for more depth)

Surname/Clan name(姓): Pre-Han Dynasty, your 姓 would not be a surname, but rather, a broader clan/tribe name. Before the Zhou Dynasty, only aristocrats had 姓 and 氏. In the Han Dynasty, 姓 absorbed the meaning of 氏 and now just means 'surname'.

Family name(氏): The name of the closer relatives, or the branch of the clan. Now obsolete.

Courtesy name(字): The name given to an individual upon reaching adulthood in dynastic China. In ancient times, unless individuals were close, it was polite to use courtesy names rather than given names in conversation. In modern day, it's very rare and pretty much obsolete.

Given name(名): The personal name given to an individual in childhood. In ancient times, one was only supposed to refer to another with their given name if they were very close, elders, superiors, or family. Nowadays, it just refers to anybody's normal name.

Title(号): other than formal titles like government, 号 also encompasses nicknames and any other names that point to an individual that aren't 名 or 字.

Since, in Chinese, names are made up of Chinese characters, everyone's name has words in it with meanings. Even the surname (well, some surnames have no other meanings). So, being able to see the transliterated pinyin in English doesn't actually convey this meaning, it can be considered lost in translation. Btw, this also applies to Korean and Japanese.

Most names in Chinese are chosen for positive meanings, hopes for the future, ties to their past, or otherwise based off of the names of siblings or at the direction of a traditional name-giver such as a monk or daoist. Therefore, most names in Chinese are unisex, although usually names with characters meaning beauty and flowers are feminine, and ones meaning war, ruler, and strength are masculine.

Mythical creatures and poetry feature strongly in names, as many names refer to poems or idioms to give another meaning. 龙 and 凤, dragon and phoenix, are respectively masculine and feminine characters due to their association with the emperor and empress as well as qualities such as strength or grace.

Han Chinese names are usually limited to 2-4 characters. Most have one-character surnames, although a two-character surnames such as Ouyang(欧阳) or Gongsun(公孙) also exist. Given names are usually one or two characters long. Chinese minorities may have longer surnames and given names due to transliteration into Chinese.

Note: these are used directly, or appended after the name/surname.

Let's say we have Chen Qianhong(陈千红). Let's pretend it's appropriate to address them by the term ge (哥), or older brother (in which case he would be male).
This can be done by referring to him in these ways:

Directly as ge (哥).

Appending it after his entire name as Chen Qianhong-ge (陈千红哥).

Appending it after his given name as Qianhong-ge (千红哥).

Appending it after his surname as Chen-ge (陈哥).

If he has another nickname, ge could be appended to the end of that as well.
For all of these, it would be alright to repeat ge as a term of endearment, replacing the ge with gege (哥哥).
I probably didn't need to explain that much. xP

Ge (哥): older brother.

Can be used to address males older than you but in the same generation.

A more formal form would be Xiong(兄).

Di (弟): younger brother.

Can be used to address males younger than you and in the same generation.

Xiaodi (小弟): literally 'little younger brother', can be used to refer casually to young male workers.

Jie (姐): older sister.

Can be used to address females older than you but in the same generation.

Xiaojie (小姐): other than being a polite term for females slightly older than you, has vulgar undertones due to being used to refer to prostitutes

Mei (妹): younger sister.

Can be used to address females younger than you and in the same generation.

Saozi (嫂子): older brother's wife, also used for older male friends' wives.

As a whole or group:

Xiongdi (兄弟): brothers, or male friends of similar age

Jiemei (姐妹): sisters, or female friends of similar age

Xiongdi Jiemei (兄弟姐妹): refers to siblings and close comrades/friends of similar age.

Shushu (叔叔): uncle. For the relative, it's specifically for your father's younger brother, but it can also be used to address males around or younger than your father's age. Using just one shu character is also appropriate.

Ahyi (阿姨): aunt/auntie. For the relative, it's specifically for your mother's younger sister, but it can also be used to address females around or younger than your mother's age.

Bobo (伯伯): uncle. For the relative, it's specifically for your father's older brother, but it can also be used to address males older than your father.

Yeye (爷爷) grandfather. For the relative, it's specifically for your father's father, or, in some regions, your mother's father, but it can also be used to address elderly males. The ye character is also used in many authoritative titles and such.

Martial Family/terms of address in sects and organizations:

(I'll be using the pinyin most of the time since there are too many alternate translations. Shifu will still be master though, since everyone seems to use that translation, and disciple will be used normally)
Seniority in these hierarchies is based on how long they have been disciples under that master, and less about age. A shixiong(师兄) can be younger than his shidi(师弟), as long as he came under their master earlier.

Shizu (师祖): Similar to shigong, but can also mean the founder or patriarch of the organization, or the master's father.

Shigong (师公): Master's master. Usually translated as grandmaster, although that can also mean a particularly skilled person.

Shifu (师父): Generally translated as master, as in, master and disciple. Although it uses the character Fu(父), which means 'father', a shifu can be female.

Shifu (师傅) is different from this shifu (师父), although they're pronounced similarly. 师傅 is used to address those of a skilled profession, not necessarily your teacher.

Shizun (师尊): a more respectful way of addressing a master.

Shitai (师太): a more rare term specifically for female masters, usually nuns/female monks.

Shimu/Shiniang (师母/师娘): Master's wife. No, I don't know whether a master's husband would be called one.

Shibo (师伯): Master's shixiong.
Translation: uncle-master, martial uncle

Shishu (师叔): Master's shidi (sometimes used to refer to shigu as well).
Translation: uncle-master, martial uncle

Shigu (师姑): Master's shijie or shimei. The term shigu is also used to address nuns/female monks.
Translation: aunt-master, martial aunt

Shixiong/Shige (师兄/师哥): a male disciple in the same organization, senior to the addressor. Usually a disciple of the same master, and can also be the master's son.
Translation: senior brother

Shijie (师姐): a female disciple in the same organization, senior to the addressor.
Translation: senior sister

Shidi (师弟): a male disciple in the same organization, junior to the addressor.
Translation: junior brother

Shimei (师妹): a female disciple in the same organization, junior to the addressor.
Translation: junior brother

Tudi/Dizi (徒弟/弟子): Translates directly into disciple or apprentice.

Shizhi (师侄): the disciples of any of your fellow disciples under the same master. A gender neutral term.
Translation: martial nephew or martial niece

Zhangmen (掌门): Sect master, sect leader, or sect head.

Zhanglao (长老): Elders. Higher-ups of a sect, usually assist the leader.

Jiaozhu (教主): Hierarch. Leader or founder of a religious organization (like a cult).

Korean Terms (I rarely read KR raws/MTL and don't often see people explaining them in footnotes, so this section is rather bare.)
Note: it's quite hilarious that one of my largest sources for KR internet slang is a Chinese site for learning Korean...
Note 2: Did you know Chinese idioms are sometimes used in Korea as well? Now you do. Actually, you probably knew that already.

NOTE: transliteration of Korean is less standardized than Chinese, so I'm just going with whatever Google uses and whatever I see the most.

Oppa (오빠): (used by females) older brother, or older male friend of the same generation. Notoriously used for boyfriends.

Orabeoni (오라버니): the equivalent of oppa used in dynastic Korea. Still used sometimes today as a more polite way of saying oppa.

Hyung/Hyeong (형): (used by males) older brother, or older male friend of the same generation.

Unnie/Eonni (언니): (used by females) older sister, or older female friend of the same generation.

Noona/Nuna (누나): (used by males) older sister, or older female friend of the same generation.

Sunbae/Seonbae (선배): senior [in rank or age compared to addressor]. Used chiefly in school and work settings but is pretty general. Equivalent to Japanese senpai and Chinese qianbei.

Hoobae/Hubae (후배) junior [in rank or age compared to addressor]. Used chiefly in school and work settings but is pretty general. Equivalent to Japanese kohai/kouhai and Chinese houbei.

Dongsaeng (동생): younger sibling, or younger friend of the same generation. Typically used to refer to the person, but not when communicating with the person directly.

Has female and male variants, yeodongsaeng (여동생) and namdongsaeng (남동생) for referring to younger sisters and brothers.

Ssi (씨): appended to the end of a name as an honorific conveying a little respect, kind of like Mr./Ms./Mrs., etc. Often used in business.

Nim (님): like ssi but more respectful.

Slang/Informal Speech (using Google's transliteration because I don't have another standard):

Fighting/Hwaiting (파이팅, paiting): transliteration of English fighting, used to express encouragement. Much like the Chinese phrase jiayou/add oil.

Munchkin (먼치킨, meonchikin): English loanword that usually refers to OP characters, not short people. Originates from the TRPG term referring to those who build characters to be as powerful/capable as possible.

Stagnant water (고인물, goinmul): refers to people who have played a game for a long time and become very good at it. It's also used as a derogatory term for people who are addicted to a game (especially after it is no longer popular).

Rotten water (썩은물, sseog-eunmul): stagnant water rots, and so rotten water is used for those who are even more "stagnant". As you can probably tell, it is typically derogatory. There are variant terms for this, like 해골물 and 석유.

Sesame salt flavor (깨소금맛, kkaesogeummas): refers to the feeling of schadenfreude, gratification at seeing the suffering of others, but also delight at seeing justice brought to wrongdoers.

Soda (사이다, saida): English loanword that refers not only to the drink but also a refreshing feeling. Google Translate often translates it to 'cider'.

Sweet potato (고구마, goguma): refers also to the feeling of frustration or a frustrating situation.

Went to the mountain (산으로 갔다, san-eulo gassda): ruined or digressed. Can also be used in present tense to indicate that it is currently in the process of digressing.

Meaning comes from the adage "Too many sailors sends the ship to the mountain" (사공이 많으면 배가 산으로 간다), which basically means that if there are too many people with no unity, they will go off-course. Similar to "too many cooks spoil the broth".

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Personal Asian Terms Glossary [Unfinished]

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aShinyVaporeon

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Personal Asian Terms Glossary [Unfinished]

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aShinyVaporeon

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