<p>As answered concisely by StarCub, 齷齪 龌龊 is the <strong>Hanzi representation</strong> for Shanghainese <code>o co</code>. Yet IMHO to call this word "the Mandarin equivalent" of <code>o co</code> is a bit <strong>inappropriate</strong>, since</p>

<ol>
<li>from my understanding you are just asking for a Hanzi representation for a dialectal word, yet not its "equivalent" (or synonym, IMHO). A common mistake is to neglect the fact that any Chinese dialect can be a standalone system, <strong>completely represented in Hanzi</strong> yet <strong>pronounced in a sound system different from Putonghua but still well organized in a way derived from ancient Chinese</strong>.</li>
<li>though "dirty, messy" appears as one explanation for 龌龊 in modern Putonghua dictionaries, it's <strong>far less frequently used</strong> (from my daily experience) than the word's extended meanings "mean, despicable" or "narrow".</li>
</ol>

<p>To add up, I'd like to mention 腌臢 腌臜 <code>a1 za1</code> in at least 贛 Gan dialect <code>nga41 tsa</code> is also a high-frequent daily word expressing "dirty". And the phonetic similarity among 腌臢 <code>nga tsa</code> in 赣, 齷齪 <code>o co</code> in 吴, 污糟 <code>wu tsou</code> in 粤 and 肮脏 <code>ang tsang</code> in Putonghua is really a interesting topic for further discussion.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-04T22:59:38.727Z
+1 for your profound knowledge in the phonetically similar words across different dialects!
Dodo
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-10-01T08:51:24.883Z
2012-10-01T09:00:50.953Z
2012-10-01T09:00:50.953Z
Nihil
<p>髒？ zang1, which means 'dirty' or 'filthy'</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T10:07:21.080Z
2011-12-15T10:07:21.080Z
Zhanger
<p>龌龊  wò chuò
Meanings:
(1) dirty；filthy
(2) mean,despicable</p>

<p>It's not Shanghai dialect only. It's used a lot in northern China as well.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-06T11:41:17.310Z
Interesting. I wonder if it's cognate to Cantonese 污糟 `wu1 zou1`. The tones would suggest not, though.
jogloran
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T10:10:04.403Z
Thank you, so good to have some native speakers on this site!
going
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T10:11:31.470Z
No problems! It took me a while to realize it's 龌龊 too. :)
StarCub
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-10-16T01:07:07.070Z
I think mandarin 龌龊 nowadays almost always has a connotation of poverty and even lack of space at home, but the Shanghainese word does not always (like `zu zi lo o co e` (桌子很脏)).
Timothy Gu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-15T10:07:22.937Z
2011-12-15T10:07:22.937Z
StarCub
<p>In the Shanghai dialect <em>dirty</em> is pronounced something like "o co" with the o pronounced like the "o" in <em>cot</em> and the "c" pronounced like the usual c in pinyin (kinda like an 'ts' sound).</p>

<p>Which characters would be used for writing these two?</p>

<mandarin><character-identification><topolect><shanghainese>
What is the Mandarin equivalent for the Shanghai term for dirty?
# What is the Mandarin equivalent for the Shanghai term for dirty?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-15)

In the Shanghai dialect *dirty* is pronounced something like "o co" with the o pronounced like the "o" in *cot* and the "c" pronounced like the usual c in pinyin (kinda like an 'ts' sound).

Which characters would be used for writing these two?

**Tags:** mandarin, character-identification, topolect, shanghainese


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2011-12-15. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

龌龊 wò chuò
Meanings:
(1) dirty；filthy
(2) mean,despicable

It's not Shanghai dialect only. It's used a lot in northern China as well.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you, so good to have some native speakers on this site!  
> **username_4**: No problems! It took me a while to realize it's 龌龊 too. :)  
> **username_5**: Interesting. I wonder if it's cognate to Cantonese 污糟 `wu1 zou1`. The tones would suggest not, though.  
> **username_6**: I think mandarin 龌龊 nowadays almost always has a connotation of poverty and even lack of space at home, but the Shanghainese word does not always (like `zu zi lo o co e` (桌子很脏)).  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2012-10-01. Score: 5

As answered concisely by username_4, 齷齪 龌龊 is the **Hanzi representation** for Shanghainese `o co`. Yet IMHO to call this word "the Mandarin equivalent" of `o co` is a bit **inappropriate**, since

1. from my understanding you are just asking for a Hanzi representation for a dialectal word, yet not its "equivalent" (or synonym, IMHO). A common mistake is to neglect the fact that any Chinese dialect can be a standalone system, **completely represented in Hanzi** yet **pronounced in a sound system different from Putonghua but still well organized in a way derived from ancient Chinese**.
2. though "dirty, messy" appears as one explanation for 龌龊 in modern Putonghua dictionaries, it's **far less frequently used** (from my daily experience) than the word's extended meanings "mean, despicable" or "narrow".

To add up, I'd like to mention 腌臢 腌臜 `a1 za1` in at least 贛 Gan dialect `nga41 tsa` is also a high-frequent daily word expressing "dirty". And the phonetic similarity among 腌臢 `nga tsa` in 赣, 齷齪 `o co` in 吴, 污糟 `wu tsou` in 粤 and 肮脏 `ang tsang` in Putonghua is really a interesting topic for further discussion.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: +1 for your profound knowledge in the phonetically similar words across different dialects!  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-15. Score: 1

髒？ zang1, which means 'dirty' or 'filthy'


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