kāi wán xiào
joke
别开玩笑。
bié kāiwánxiào.
Don't joke.
你是在开玩笑吗？
nǐ zài shì kāiwánxiào ma?
Are you kidding me?
这可不是开玩笑的。
zhè kě bù shì kāiwánxiào de.
This is not a joke.
闹着玩 (nào zhe wán)
just kidding
开玩笑 (kāi wán xiào)
joking
逗你玩 (dòu nǐ wán)
teasing you
认真 (rèn zhēn)
serious
当真 (dāng zhēn)
take seriously
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The Chinese word 开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) is a compound word consisting of two characters: 开 (kāi) and 玩笑 (wánxiào). The character 开 (kāi) means "to open" or "to start", while the character 玩笑 (wánxiào) means "joke" or "to joke". Together, the two characters 开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) literally mean "to open a joke" or "to start a joke". This phrase is used in Chinese to express the idea of "joking" or "kidding". For example, if someone says something that is not meant to be taken seriously, they might say 开玩笑 (kāiwánxiào) to indicate that they are joking.
