An American translator in Beijing reflects on the word niubi and what makes it so difficult to translate, and it’s a delightful read.

一位在北京的美国译者反映，“牛逼”一词实在难翻，下面就来看看人家是怎么解释“牛逼”的，很有意思哦！

On the face of it, niubi is not untranslatableat all: the characters niu and bi can be renderedinto English with great precisionby the words – and I beg your pardon – ‘cow pussy’, niu being the zoologicalreference, bi the anatomical. But though the denotationof niubi is embarrassingly plain, it’s connotationsare far from obvious.

从表面上来看，牛逼一词并非不可译，把两个汉字一一对等直译成英语(论坛)的话，就是“母牛的生殖器”（翻译需要，请原谅我的不文明）。牛是动物学术语，逼是解剖学术语。虽然牛逼的字面意思有点让人尴尬，但很清楚。不过，牛逼的深层含义就有讲究了。

Niubi is a term of approbation, perhaps the greatest such term in colloquialChinese. Niubi is an attitude, a lifestyle: a complete lack of concern over what other people think of you, and the resulting freedom to do whatever you please. It is knowing exactly what you’re capable of, making the decision to act, and to hell with the consequences. It is the essenceof ‘cool’, but taken to the nthdegree, and with a dirty word thrown in.

牛逼是一种溢美之词，可能是汉语口语中夸人的最好说法了。牛逼是一种态度，一种生活方式，完全不在意别人是怎么看待你的，因此你可以爱做啥做啥。牛逼的人对自己的能力了若指掌，自己决定要做什么，完全不计后果。牛逼从本质上来说就是“酷”，不过比“酷”要酷上N倍，更何况牛逼里还带个脏字呢！

Of course, like all great philosophicalconcepts, niubi has an inverseside - an excess of niubi leads to self-importance, arrogance, hubris, imperiousness, and very dangerous driving.

当然，和其他的哲学概念一样，牛逼也有其不好的一面。一个人太过牛逼就会自以为是 ，不可一世，狂妄自大，无动于衷，就连开车都要飙到危险驾驶才罢休。