So What Is 糟糕?

If you haven’t noticed, the title of my blog is “糟糕！ The Adventures of Tom.” So what exactly does 糟糕 mean? How can you use 糟糕 properly in your daily life?

First, you should know how to say it: zāogāo. It can be defined as “how terrible,” “too bad,” or “bad luck.” Sounds awful, right? When used in conversation, it doesn’t have nearly as dreadful of a sense or feeling. My high school Chinese teacher asked me about the title of my blog and how to explain 糟糕 to her students, so I offered up the following explanation. I hope you find it helpful.

“As for 糟糕, one of my teachers in Harbin would say it a lot. He would say it in kind of a funny way, so I had a fun time imitating him. Fast forward to this summer during our teacher training, and for whatever reason I started to say it a lot. For instance, my chopsticks fall on the ground: "糟糕！" Or maybe I forgot something I needed in my room: "糟糕！" Because I constantly said it, native speakers were always eager to correct me. "In this situation, we wouldn't say 糟糕. We would probably say "糟了" [said zāo le, and is a bit more colloquial]. It also reflects the fact that a lot of weird/unexpected/possibly bad things happen while living in China that I might want to say 糟糕 after encountering.

If you want to teach your students, I might explain that it's more formal language that's more seen in books/writing than spoken. As I'm sure you know, 糟了 is more appropriate for speaking ("oops"). There's also, of course, the more more "colorful" language (taught to me by some Chinese fellows), but I doubt that would be good to teach students.”

For a few examples, if your friend’s car broke and the repair bill was really high, you might say 糟糕. If you drop the chopsticks you’re using on the ground, that might be a “糟了.” A third and final option would be for something even more light-hearted”. Say you’re sweeping the floor and the broom slips out of your hand. This is not a really bad situation, nor is it a real inconvenience. In this case, you might go with a nice “啊哟”(āyō). It’s defined as a interjection of surprise, which dropping the broom just might be.

There you go. Three levels (four if you include cursing, you’ll have to learn those on your own) to express your level of displeasure and disappointment.

If you had any questions about the use of 糟糕 or why I chose my blog’s name, I hope this helped.

Don’t protest here, otherwise you’ll have a serious 糟糕 moment of your own. (Tiananmen/Forbidden City, 2007)