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Chinese Compound Words

We tell you the meaning of each character. You guess the English translation of the characters when placed together.
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 8, 2025
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First submittedSeptember 8, 2025
Times taken11,126
Average score66.7%
Rating4.11
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Chinese
Direct translation
Word
王子
King + son
Prince
电脑
Electricity + brain
Computer
电话
Electricity + talk
Telephone
电视
Electricity + see
Television
飞机
Fly + machine
Airplane
长颈鹿
Long + neck + deer
Giraffe
铅笔
Lead + pen
Pencil
出租车
Out + rent + car
Taxi
鼻孔
Nose + hole
Nostril
斑马
Striped + horse
Zebra
烤箱
Bake + box
Oven
企鹅
Business + goose
Penguin
龙虾
Dragon + shrimp
Lobster
餐厅
Meal + hall
Restaurant
松鼠
Pine tree + mouse
Squirrel
危机
Danger + opportunity
Crisis
铁路
Iron + road
Railroad
屋顶
House + top
Roof
吸血鬼
Suck + blood + ghost
Vampire
变色龙
Color + change + dragon
Chameleon
狂犬病
Crazy + dog + disease
Rabies
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75 Comments
+7
Level 72
Sep 9, 2025
Writing this language has to be so time consuming...
+9
Level 44
Sep 9, 2025
yeah sometimes it is but it kinda depends on if u write traditional or simplified
+1
Level 82
Oct 6, 2025
It's even worse if it's written in Traditional Chinese (but I prefer it that way)
+1
Level 44
Oct 7, 2025
same!
+2
Level 61
Oct 6, 2025
As someone with experience learning both Japanese and Mandarin I 100% agree. What's crazy to me is that Chinese students have to write essays by hand and can't just resort to pinyin if they can't remember a certain character. That being said, after graduation most Chinese people punt the knowledge of how to write most advanced characters out of their brain in favor of more useful information unless their job specifically requires writing.
+54
Level 83
Sep 9, 2025
Awesome!

Maybe accept phone for telephone and train tracks for railroad?

+11
Level 80
Sep 9, 2025
second train tracks that's what they are called in the UK
+7
Level 86
Sep 9, 2025
Not really. It's the railway.
+6
Level 67
Oct 6, 2025
they are called train tracks in the UK, or railway. either are acceptable and widely used.

phone and telephone are interchangeable and should also be accepted

+2
Level 68
Oct 9, 2025
Agreed, I tried railroad when train track wasn't excepted, but didn't think to try adding tele in front of phone so missed that one.
+11
Level 75
Sep 9, 2025
Missed the Business Goose! Facepalming when I saw the answer... It was so obvious.
+21
Level 67
Sep 9, 2025
Technically penguin means standing + goose
+2
Level 35
Oct 8, 2025
It's based off cantonese 'stand' rather than mandarin ig
+2
Level 68
Sep 9, 2025
I feel so awful missing the electricity stuff. Oh yes, brainwaves, perfect.
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
I got computer but missed the others because I put phone and TV. 😒
+5
Level 68
Sep 9, 2025
的士 is more common than 出租车 though
+14
Level 79
Sep 9, 2025
I think 的士 might be more common in Hong Kong. I don't remember seeing it at all when I was living in the mainland. Maybe it's common in Guangdong too?
+2
Level 40
Oct 7, 2025
You're right. As a mainland Chinese, I can confirm that 出租车 is the most commonly used word used in northern China. Many people understand 的士/计程车 but don't use it at all in daily life.
+1
Level 63
Sep 9, 2025
In Singapore, we say 德士. I think both are transliterations of "taxi". The other word I came up with while trying to think of what taxi could translate to was 计程车, which is apparently what it's called in Taiwan. It's complicated.
+4
Level 44
Sep 9, 2025
as someone who has lived in taiwan before, it is indeed called 計程車.

but if u say 德士 or 出租車 people will still understand u :) ࣪ ִֶָ☾.

hope this helped ₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎ ₍ᐢ. ̫.ᐢ₎

Ი︵𐑼

૮・ﻌ・ა

+2
Level 71
Oct 8, 2025
計程車 literally means "counting miles car", while 的士or德士 is the transliteration from the English word taxi
+1
Level 48
Oct 7, 2025
In the US, I definitely hear 出租车 more.
+31
Level 85
Sep 9, 2025
Is "phone" not enough?
+38
Level 90
Sep 9, 2025
Please accept phone. I'm surprised it's not a cross-Jetpunk type in.
+9
Level 93
Sep 9, 2025
Yes, I tried "phone" and "cell phone". Also, cafe or cafeteria for "meat+hall"?
+3
Level 89
Sep 10, 2025
"Cell phone" wouldn't really be right; that's 手机 ("hand machine").
+2
Level 79
Sep 9, 2025
18/21. Took me a while to think of computer, telephone, television but once I got one I got them all. I love how opportunity is part of the translation for crisis, it's like the Sun Tzu-type proverb of how crises bring opportunity, a more optimistic way of looking at it
+7
Level 79
Sep 9, 2025
I think track or train track should be accepted for railroad, tried those
+6
Level 63
Sep 9, 2025
I tried rail and was surprised that it didn't work.
+12
Level 87
Sep 9, 2025
I didn't get it but I love Business Goose . The more you think about it the more sense it makes.
+1
Level 47
Oct 8, 2025
Actually “企” doesn't mean "business" here. It means "to stand on tiptoe."
+2
Level 68
Oct 9, 2025
So more ballet goose than business goose
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
😂
+7
Level 97
Sep 9, 2025
I thought for certain "meal hall" was dining room, and kept trying a bunch of different versions. Also could you accept just "phone" or is the Chinese word for that answer specifically that word
+3
Level 71
Sep 9, 2025
there is also a separate word for „cellphone“, 手机 (lit. „hand machine“), but 电话 usually won't refer to it, sometimes it also refers to your telephone number (on lots of shops, you might see the telephone number listed as „电话: “)
+2
Level 56
Oct 6, 2025
i don't know about mainland china but in hong kong, 電話 is still used synonymously with 手機 even with 電話 also being used for the old phones or telephone numbers.
+1
Level 56
Oct 6, 2025
it could also mean call
+8
Level 63
Sep 9, 2025
变 means "change" and 色 means "colour", so the two English words should be swapped in the clue for 变色龙.
+4
Level 67
Sep 9, 2025
Haha this was fun! I am chinese so I never realized how funny some of the literal translations are.
+5
Level 61
Sep 9, 2025
企鹅 should be standing goose
+3
Level 61
Sep 9, 2025
risk should be accepted apart from crisis
+3
Level 88
Sep 10, 2025
Why? I tried it myself, but they aren't synonymous. Is that a another translation of the word?
+4
Level 71
Sep 10, 2025
"Business goose" for penguin is unfortunately not true.
+3
Level 76
Sep 10, 2025
Phone is not accepted for telephone and cab is not accepted for taxi, (and I believe there was another thing).
+3
Level 69
Oct 6, 2025
My chinese isn't that good but 电话 specifically refers to telephones as normal phones (cell phones) are called 手机 in Chinese
+1
Level 68
Oct 7, 2025
As someone who grew up with a landline in the house, it has just occurred to me that a cell phone is now a "normal" phone.
+1
Level 90
Sep 11, 2025
I guess "business goose" came from Linux
+1
Level 47
Oct 8, 2025
Actually “企” doesn't mean "business" here. It means "to stand on tiptoe."
+5
Level 75
Sep 21, 2025
The Danger+Opportunity is apparently a popular misconception. Wikipedia even has a whole article on "Chinese word for crisis".
+3
Level 70
Oct 6, 2025
Gave a poor rating over this "phone" nonsense. Fix it already.
+1
Level 67
Oct 6, 2025
good grief...... and yet 7 years on here and not one quiz contributed...already. Righto! ;)
+1
Level 67
Oct 6, 2025
Thanks QM great quiz. How do you put up with the moaners?
+4
Level 88
Oct 6, 2025
I shall forever more refer to penguins as business geese.
+1
Level 82
Oct 6, 2025
This was a breeze for me since I speak Chinese :D
+1
Level 55
Oct 6, 2025
Cool quiz!
+1
Level 79
Oct 6, 2025
I put cellphone x_x
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
I put phone.
+1
Level 24
Oct 6, 2025
It's easy for a Chinese who has learnt English^v^
+5
Level 55
Oct 6, 2025
You need to accept phone for 电话 and cafeteria and canteen for 餐厅.
+6
Level 66
Oct 6, 2025
My version, as a Chinese person, is: https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1951634/whats-that-chinese-compound-word-1

It's even over a month older than QuizMaster XD, so perhaps it was the inspiration for this question. Anyway, everyone's welcome to check it out.

+1
Level 70
Oct 6, 2025
Please add "cab" as an alternate for taxi. Almost missed that one.
+4
Level 66
Oct 6, 2025
accept phone for telephone please
+2
Level 67
Oct 6, 2025
Could have gotten more if 'phone' and 'train tracks' were accepted
+2
Level 32
Oct 7, 2025
First time playing a chinese quiz on jetpunk, kinda feel like i am cheating on this one tbh as someone who is native chinese haha
+1
Level 48
Oct 7, 2025
I think 餐厅 better describes a cafeteria, dining hall, or dining room. The word to restaurant that I use most often is 餐馆 (meal place)
+1
Level 46
Oct 7, 2025
Please accept train tracks for railroad
+1
Level 70
Oct 8, 2025
Answers seem unnecessary strict.

Phone should be accepted for telephone

Train tracks should be accepted for railroad

I also tried video for TV and cantina and cafeteria for restaurant but those are not synonyms to the same degree.

+2
Level 66
Oct 8, 2025
just want to point out that "企鹅" literally is "standing goose" instead of "business goose". "企业", which means enterprise, literally is "upright business", which might have given the misconception.
+1
Level 47
Oct 8, 2025
"Business Goose" is totally wrong. Actually “企” doesn't mean "business" here. It means "to stand on tiptoe."
+1
Level 53
Oct 8, 2025
Jokes on you, I speak mandarin
+1
Level 40
Nov 12, 2025
I got "rabies" right, because in my native language Dutch it's "hondsdolheid" which means "dog madness".
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
I started to type rabies but changed it to raccoon at the last second. 🤦🏻‍♀️
+1
Level 60
Nov 20, 2025
餐厅 isn't usually used to mean restaurant, it translates to dining hall or a cafeteria.
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
I actually tried cafeteria first.
+1
Level 74
Apr 22, 2026
Can you accept phone for telephone?