<blockquote>
<p>A simple explanation might be that the sound &quot;zei&quot; with 阳平 tone (second tone) in 东北话 can be represented in Standard Written Chinese only with this character 贼 (...and 鲗 cuttlefish?).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No, I don't think that is the correct explanation.</p>
<p>I was born in the northeast of China, and later moved to other regions (now in Shanghai). I don't know the etymology of it. But from my observation, it's more like a metaphor.</p>
<p>Think about what a thief's eyes look like when he sees a lot of treasures in front of him? In Chinese, we say 眼睛放贼光. When we see someone's eyes very bright (or reflecting lots of lights), we can say 他的眼睛贼亮 (like a thief seeing lots of treasures). So, 贼亮 becomes 非常亮 naturally.</p>
<p>Since 贼 also denotes the sense of <em>greedy; cunning; wicked; deceitful</em>, 贼亮 is used to describe something <em>unpleasantly bright</em>. E.g. 这双鞋亮得有点发贼. However, this unpleasant factor becomes weaker and weaker.</p>
<p>And later it turned out to be the sense of &quot;folksy, cool, awesome&quot;, etc. E. g. &quot;那女孩贼漂亮!&quot; , which doesn't have any of those negative connotations. I know some negative English words also have turned out to be positive such as <em>badass</em>.</p>
<p>By extension, we could use 贼 to express the sense of &quot;quite&quot; or &quot;very&quot;. We sometimes also add 拉(的) or 拉拉(的) for more effect.  E.g. there's a song named 我贼拉拉的爱你.  Other examples: 她贼拉好看; 这冰棍贼拉拉的甜; etc.</p>
<p>My two cents.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T23:13:24.903Z
@blackgreen Haha, I don't know if I'm right. I don't see any authoritive documents address this.  I'd be glad to see it if any. Anyways, that's how I understand it as a native speaker of the northeast region. It can make sense to me internally.  Have fun!
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-03T01:45:32.167Z
I think it is "說反話 - 用貶義字去讚揚人以表現突出與眾不同". It might have started as an ironic expression, but soon gained popularity by people liking the fun and imitations at the local.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-11T23:20:09.623Z
2020-07-12T19:21:16.480Z
2020-07-12T19:21:16.480Z
dan
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%B4%BC/4147095" rel="nofollow noreferrer">賊</a>: 方言。很，十分。表示程度相当高。多用于贬义。&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The meaning of 賊 as an adverb for &quot;very&quot; is marked as 'dialect' (方言)</p>
<p>Speaking of dialect, Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong use the terms 好鬼/ 鬼咁/ 鬼死咁 to a similar effect</p>
<p>Example:</p>
<p>好鬼靚, 鬼咁靚 and 鬼死咁靚 all mean 'extremely/ very pretty'</p>
<p>We can replace all three with 賊 and say 賊漂亮 in this Mandarin dialect and the meaning would be the same.</p>
<p>I do not know the origin of either 好鬼/ 鬼咁/ 鬼死咁 or 賊 (as adverb 'very'), but they share a commonality. Both 鬼 and 賊 have a connotation of 'out of the ordinary' (与众不同), 'unusual'(异常) or 'abnormal'(不正常)</p>
<p>Because both 鬼 and 賊 have bad connotations, the dictionary stated 賊 is mostly used for derogation (多用于贬义). But the contemporary usage of these terms is simply &quot;very&quot; without any bad connotation</p>
<p>I would reason 鬼咁 and 賊 be used as adjectives for ''extremely/ very' as the following:</p>
<p>鬼咁靚 - pretty to the point of beyond human = very pretty; extremely pretty</p>
<p>賊漂亮 - pretty to the point of almost criminal, no one should be allowed to be so pretty = very pretty; extremely pretty</p>
<p>It is just my personal interpretation. The true origin might be something else entirely. But it is the best-educated guess I can come up with.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-03T03:16:15.387Z
鬼咁靚, (as pretty as the devil), I think it is from the idea that the devil, ghosts, (who have supernatural powers), when making an appearance to humans would make sense to appear very good looking, (male or female), so as not to scare anyone away, or to gain the human subject's confidence, or for seduction, in order to do whatever intended devilish works. Years ago, a friend of my while driving actually saw a beautiful woman all dressed in red standing by the road side late at night on a lonely stretch of road with wild forests on both sides and no human habitation for miles around.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T06:10:54.253Z
2020-07-12T08:28:42.420Z
2020-07-12T08:28:42.420Z
Tang Ho
<h1>Short answer:</h1>
<p>Just for the convenience of writing, it has no relationship with &quot;Thief&quot;.</p>
<hr />
<h1>Detailed explanation:</h1>
<p>Keep in mind: some words in Chinese are just a pronunciation, and ares no official words.</p>
<p>So, in your case, how did 贼 come to mean: 'extremely'?</p>
<p>The answer is: for the convenience of writing.</p>
<p>Originally, people would say this orally:</p>
<ul>
<li>这部电影zéi好看</li>
<li>我们家乡冬天zéi冷</li>
<li>那个人zéi有钱</li>
</ul>
<p>When putting these words to paper, people would write the <code>zéi</code> with the commonly used character <code>贼</code>.</p>
<p>Also other examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>我们那嘎达贼冷.</li>
<li>我们那疙瘩贼冷</li>
</ul>
<p>Here, <code>嘎达</code> = <code>疙瘩</code> , they don't have the meaning, just have the same pronunciation as 东北方言. (North-Eastern Chinese dialect)</p>
<p>Also:</p>
<ol>
<li>bo leng gai, means 膝盖. (knee)</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>我昨天打球受伤了, 波棱盖疼</li>
<li>我昨天打球受伤了, 拨了盖疼</li>
</ul>
<ol start="2">
<li>ga3 ji1 wo1: means 腋下 (underarm)</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>天气热, 我嘎鸡窝有点痒</li>
<li>天气热, 我鸽子窝有点痒</li>
<li>天气热, 我嘎子窝有点痒</li>
</ul>
<ol start="3">
<li>nen4:  means very</li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li>你咋嫩好看呢?</li>
<li>你咋恁好看呢?</li>
</ul>
<p>For more information, see also <a href="https://www.zhihu.com/question/308057402/answer/567097231" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T04:05:14.630Z
贼 is well defined in dictionaries including the official 新华字典. e. g. " 副词

1 

很；十分

皮鞋擦得贼亮贼亮的 / 这天气，贼冷!
"
 So, claiming "it has no official word" is not true.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T01:56:21.723Z
2021-06-21T14:16:42.010Z
2021-06-21T14:16:42.010Z
Siwei
<p>There are actually several papers on this topic, e.g. 试析东北方言程度副词“贼”_张然 etc. They all agree that this particular usage inherits and develops that of 贼 from Middle Chinese.</p>
<p>The original meaning of 贼 is a verb as 破坏. Given the verbal noun usage of Chinese verbs, it naturally extends to noun 搞破坏的人. Later it was extended to mean robber, and then later to thieves.</p>
<p>It's common for Chinese nouns and verbs to modify a noun. Being at the syntactically attributive position gives the possibility of the rising of the adjective usage of 贼 as 邪惡的，不正派的. It's common for Chinese nouns to modify a verb. Being at the syntactically adverbial position gives the possibility of the rising of the adverb usage of 贼 as 像贼一样 &gt; 狠毒, 殘暴 &gt; very badly.</p>
<p>Along this line of evolution, we see that the verb 贼 is gradually grammaticalized. The adverb usage as <em>very badly</em> is negative. Up to now, this evolution is widely done in dialects.</p>
<p>Then in the Northeastern Region, grammaticalizition goes further so that 贼 lost its negative tone as an adverb. This is not uncommon in Chinese. Many words lost their negative tone as well, e.g. 锻炼.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-03T00:59:57.640Z
2022-11-03T01:24:01.890Z
2022-11-03T01:24:01.890Z
lilysirius
<p>While watching a tv show, I heard the presenter, a Beijinger, say 贼好. In that particular context, the only possible meaning was 很好.</p>
<p>Later I did some research and, as a matter of fact, it turns out <strong>贼 zei2</strong> does mean &quot;very&quot;, &quot;extremely&quot; in north-eastern dialects (东北话), and the usage has been popularized to some extent in internet speak.</p>
<p>However in Mandarin this character mainly translates as &quot;thief&quot;, &quot;evildoer&quot;. The meaning &quot;extremely&quot;, though mentioned by dictionaries, appears to be a regionalism, but how come it uses the same character for &quot;thief&quot;?</p>
<p>A simple explanation might be that the sound <em>&quot;zei&quot;</em> with 阳平 tone (second tone) in 东北话 can be represented in Standard Written Chinese only with this character 贼 (...and 鲗 cuttlefish?).</p>
<p>But I wonder if there's something else going on, or a more ancient relation between these two meanings of 贼。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T02:27:04.693Z
Interesting question. Some experts said the contemporary north-eastern dialect was influenced by the Shandong dialect in the post-Ming and Qing dynasties. Old novels like 金瓶梅 recorded such usages like `賊`, as this sentence on [this page (see the leftest column)](https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=93005&page=59): "這潘金蓮 **賊** 留心暗暗看着他". But for what that Shandong dialect came from, I have no idea yet.
Stan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-12T07:43:15.313Z
So, it is something like the English word "damn"? which could be used positively or negatively and also means "very" or "extremely"?
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-13T08:44:52.547Z
I have a conjecture, but since I cannot find the academic source to suppor it for now, I put it down in the comment, instead of making a formal answer. And this is more for the northeastern dialect 贼拉 -- I always feel, as a native Chinese speaker, frankly, this is just a mild version for 真他妈, like "darn" for "damn" in English. Again, this is my personal guess, for the language itself. I hope it has no offense to anyone.
aafulei
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-22T00:20:12.980Z
Curiously enough english isn't all that different. "devilish" in english carries the meaning of "very; extremely" such as in "a devilish clever chap"
小奥利奥
<characters><etymology><topolect>
How did 贼 come to mean "extremely"?
# How did 贼 come to mean "extremely"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-11)

While watching a tv show, I heard the presenter, a Beijinger, say 贼好. In that particular context, the only possible meaning was 很好.

Later I did some research and, as a matter of fact, it turns out **贼 zei2** does mean "very", "extremely" in north-eastern dialects (东北话), and the usage has been popularized to some extent in internet speak.

However in Mandarin this character mainly translates as "thief", "evildoer". The meaning "extremely", though mentioned by dictionaries, appears to be a regionalism, but how come it uses the same character for "thief"?

A simple explanation might be that the sound *"zei"* with 阳平 tone (second tone) in 东北话 can be represented in Standard Written Chinese only with this character 贼 (...and 鲗 cuttlefish?).

But I wonder if there's something else going on, or a more ancient relation between these two meanings of 贼。

**Tags:** characters, etymology, topolect
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Interesting question. Some experts said the contemporary north-eastern dialect was influenced by the Shandong dialect in the post-Ming and Qing dynasties. Old novels like 金瓶梅 recorded such usages like `賊`, as this sentence on [this page (see the leftest column)](https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&file=93005&page=59): "這潘金蓮 **賊** 留心暗暗看着他". But for what that Shandong dialect came from, I have no idea yet.  
> **username_2**: So, it is something like the English word "damn"? which could be used positively or negatively and also means "very" or "extremely"?  
> **username_3**: I have a conjecture, but since I cannot find the academic source to suppor it for now, I put it down in the comment, instead of making a formal answer. And this is more for the northeastern dialect 贼拉 -- I always feel, as a native Chinese speaker, frankly, this is just a mild version for 真他妈, like "darn" for "damn" in English. Again, this is my personal guess, for the language itself. I hope it has no offense to anyone.  
> **username_4**: Curiously enough english isn't all that different. "devilish" in english carries the meaning of "very; extremely" such as in "a devilish clever chap"  

---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_9 on 2022-11-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

There are actually several papers on this topic, e.g. 试析东北方言程度副词“贼”\_张然 etc. They all agree that this particular usage inherits and develops that of 贼 from Middle Chinese.

The original meaning of 贼 is a verb as 破坏. Given the verbal noun usage of Chinese verbs, it naturally extends to noun 搞破坏的人. Later it was extended to mean robber, and then later to thieves.

It's common for Chinese nouns and verbs to modify a noun. Being at the syntactically attributive position gives the possibility of the rising of the adjective usage of 贼 as 邪惡的，不正派的. It's common for Chinese nouns to modify a verb. Being at the syntactically adverbial position gives the possibility of the rising of the adverb usage of 贼 as 像贼一样 > 狠毒, 殘暴 > very badly.

Along this line of evolution, we see that the verb 贼 is gradually grammaticalized. The adverb usage as *very badly* is negative. Up to now, this evolution is widely done in dialects.

Then in the Northeastern Region, grammaticalizition goes further so that 贼 lost its negative tone as an adverb. This is not uncommon in Chinese. Many words lost their negative tone as well, e.g. 锻炼.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2020-07-11. Score: 3

> A simple explanation might be that the sound "zei" with 阳平 tone (second tone) in 东北话 can be represented in Standard Written Chinese only with this character 贼 (...and 鲗 cuttlefish?).

No, I don't think that is the correct explanation.

I was born in the northeast of China, and later moved to other regions (now in Shanghai). I don't know the etymology of it. But from my observation, it's more like a metaphor.

Think about what a thief's eyes look like when he sees a lot of treasures in front of him? In Chinese, we say 眼睛放贼光. When we see someone's eyes very bright (or reflecting lots of lights), we can say 他的眼睛贼亮 (like a thief seeing lots of treasures). So, 贼亮 becomes 非常亮 naturally.

Since 贼 also denotes the sense of *greedy; cunning; wicked; deceitful*, 贼亮 is used to describe something *unpleasantly bright*. E.g. 这双鞋亮得有点发贼. However, this unpleasant factor becomes weaker and weaker.

And later it turned out to be the sense of "folksy, cool, awesome", etc. E. g. "那女孩贼漂亮!" , which doesn't have any of those negative connotations. I know some negative English words also have turned out to be positive such as *badass*.

By extension, we could use 贼 to express the sense of "quite" or "very". We sometimes also add 拉(的) or 拉拉(的) for more effect. E.g. there's a song named 我贼拉拉的爱你. Other examples: 她贼拉好看; 这冰棍贼拉拉的甜; etc.

My two cents.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: @blackgreen Haha, I don't know if I'm right. I don't see any authoritive documents address this.  I'd be glad to see it if any. Anyways, that's how I understand it as a native speaker of the northeast region. It can make sense to me internally.  Have fun!  
> **username_6**: I think it is "說反話 - 用貶義字去讚揚人以表現突出與眾不同". It might have started as an ironic expression, but soon gained popularity by people liking the fun and imitations at the local.  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-07-12. Score: 2

> [賊](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%B4%BC/4147095): 方言。很，十分。表示程度相当高。多用于贬义。"

The meaning of 賊 as an adverb for "very" is marked as 'dialect' (方言)

Speaking of dialect, Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong use the terms 好鬼/ 鬼咁/ 鬼死咁 to a similar effect

Example:

好鬼靚, 鬼咁靚 and 鬼死咁靚 all mean 'extremely/ very pretty'

We can replace all three with 賊 and say 賊漂亮 in this Mandarin dialect and the meaning would be the same.

I do not know the origin of either 好鬼/ 鬼咁/ 鬼死咁 or 賊 (as adverb 'very'), but they share a commonality. Both 鬼 and 賊 have a connotation of 'out of the ordinary' (与众不同), 'unusual'(异常) or 'abnormal'(不正常)

Because both 鬼 and 賊 have bad connotations, the dictionary stated 賊 is mostly used for derogation (多用于贬义). But the contemporary usage of these terms is simply "very" without any bad connotation

I would reason 鬼咁 and 賊 be used as adjectives for ''extremely/ very' as the following:

鬼咁靚 - pretty to the point of beyond human = very pretty; extremely pretty

賊漂亮 - pretty to the point of almost criminal, no one should be allowed to be so pretty = very pretty; extremely pretty

It is just my personal interpretation. The true origin might be something else entirely. But it is the best-educated guess I can come up with.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 鬼咁靚, (as pretty as the devil), I think it is from the idea that the devil, ghosts, (who have supernatural powers), when making an appearance to humans would make sense to appear very good looking, (male or female), so as not to scare anyone away, or to gain the human subject's confidence, or for seduction, in order to do whatever intended devilish works. Years ago, a friend of my while driving actually saw a beautiful woman all dressed in red standing by the road side late at night on a lonely stretch of road with wild forests on both sides and no human habitation for miles around.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2020-07-12. Score: 0

# Short answer:

Just for the convenience of writing, it has no relationship with "Thief".

---

# Detailed explanation:

Keep in mind: some words in Chinese are just a pronunciation, and ares no official words.

So, in your case, how did 贼 come to mean: 'extremely'?

The answer is: for the convenience of writing.

Originally, people would say this orally:

* 这部电影zéi好看
* 我们家乡冬天zéi冷
* 那个人zéi有钱

When putting these words to paper, people would write the `zéi` with the commonly used character `贼`.

Also other examples:

* 我们那嘎达贼冷.
* 我们那疙瘩贼冷

Here, `嘎达` = `疙瘩` , they don't have the meaning, just have the same pronunciation as 东北方言. (North-Eastern Chinese dialect)

Also:

1. bo leng gai, means 膝盖. (knee)

* 我昨天打球受伤了, 波棱盖疼
* 我昨天打球受伤了, 拨了盖疼

2. ga3 ji1 wo1: means 腋下 (underarm)

* 天气热, 我嘎鸡窝有点痒
* 天气热, 我鸽子窝有点痒
* 天气热, 我嘎子窝有点痒

3. nen4: means very

* 你咋嫩好看呢?
* 你咋恁好看呢?

For more information, see also [this](https://www.zhihu.com/question/308057402/answer/567097231).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: 贼 is well defined in dictionaries including the official 新华字典. e. g. " 副词  1   很；十分  皮鞋擦得贼亮贼亮的 / 这天气，贼冷! "  So, claiming "it has no official word" is not true.  

---

