二百五 èr bǎi wǔ
Why 250 means “idiot” in Chinese.
The short answer
CasualNow commonChecked November 2026
Erbaiwu (二百五, “two hundred and fifty”) means a fool: someone who acts without thinking. Among friends it is teasing. To a stranger it is an insult, so many people avoid the number 250 in prices and gifts of money.
In a chat
- 亮亮 Liangliang
我把咖啡倒进自己的包里了。
I poured coffee into my own bag.
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
怎么会？
How did that happen?
- 亮亮 Liangliang
我以为是垃圾桶。
I thought it was the trash can.
- 灯灯 Dengdeng
哈哈，你真是个二百五。
Ha, you're such an idiot.
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How to reply
我才不是二百五！
I'm not an idiot!
对，今天我是二百五。
Yes, today I'm the idiot.
When not to use it
- Use it only with close friends, and with a smile. To a stranger, a colleague or an older person, 二百五 is an insult.
- Avoid 250 as a price or as a gift of money. A red envelope with 250 yuan can read as an insult.
What it means
A 二百五 is a person who is a bit foolish, acts without thinking, or does silly things. It is stronger than 笨蛋, but among friends it is still a tease.
Because the number itself means “fool”, people avoid it. A shop does not price an item at 250, and a person who gives money as a gift adds or takes off a little.
How people use it
It is a noun: 你这个二百五 (“you fool”), 像个二百五 (“like a fool”). People also write the number: 250.
It also works as an adjective: 他有点二百五 means “he's a bit of a fool”.
Where it comes from
Nobody knows for sure where it comes from, and the sources tell different stories. The 现代汉语规范词典, cited by Chinese Wikipedia, gives this one: in the past, 500 taels of silver made one 封 (a sealed packet), so 250 taels was 半封, “half a packet”. 半封 sounds like 半疯, “half mad”.
Our China Story gives another story and introduces it with 据说, “it is said”. In the Warring States period, jealous officials in the state of Qi had the statesman Su Qin killed. To catch the killers, the king of Qi offered 1,000 taels of gold to whoever had killed him. Four men came forward and asked for 250 taels each, and the king had the four “二百五” executed. The same page also gives the silver story.
In use
2 examples他像个二百五一样，在雨里跑来跑去。
He ran around in the rain like a fool.
别给他二百五十块，换个数字吧。
Don't give him 250 yuan. Pick another number.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
Sources
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.