Niubi! The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School

I'm friends with Eveline Chao, the author of Niubi! The Real Chinese You Were Never Taught in School, and she's very nice, so it's kind of funny to read her write things like (to pick an only slightly profane example from the book):

婊子 biaozi (byow dz)
Can literally mean "whore" but also used as a strong insult for a woman, equivalent to "bitch" or "whore." Often strengthened to 臭婊子 chou biaozi (choe byow dz), literally "stinking whore."

As Eveline says, learning the slang helps in understanding a culture and society. Divided into chapters on topics like insults, dating, and internet slang, each section of Niubi! begins with a short description of the modern Chinese life, followed by a list of terms, sometimes with additional historical context or etymology.

The book is very helpful for anyone learning Chinese or living in China and trying to figure out what everyone's talking about—or what your cabbie just yelled at the person cutting him off.

You'll hear niubi, the term from the title, shouted all the time at rock concerts. It literally means "cow pussy," but it's used to mean something like "fucking awesome"—and it's one of the nicest things you can say about a band. Shabi on the other hand, should be saved for when you're asking to get punched in the face.