How to Write 俚 (lǐ) — Meaning “rustic; vulgar; slang”

Imagine a person (亻) living inside (里) a small village, where they speak in a rough, unpolished way. This rustic speech is exactly what 俚 means — think of 'village slang' to link the parts to the meaning.

Write the left radical 亻 first as a tall, narrow stroke, then the right side 里 with the top 'field' (田) slightly smaller than the bottom 'earth' (土). A common mistake is to make the right side too wide — keep it balanced and compact so the character looks neat.

俚 means rustic or slang, while 伯 (bó) means 'uncle' or 'eldest' and uses 白 (white) on the right. 估 (gū) means 'estimate' or 'appraise' and has 古 (old) on the right. Visually, only the right side differs — 里, 白, and 古 — and their meanings are completely unrelated.

俚 is mostly seen in words like 俚语 (slang) and 俚俗 (folk customs), referring to informal, local language rather than formal speech. It often appears in discussions about dialects or traditional folk culture, and is not used in everyday conversation by itself.

Common words containing 俚 include: 俚语 (lǐ yǔ) — slang; 俚俗 (lǐ sú) — rustic and vulgar; folk customs; 俚曲 (lǐ qǔ) — folk song; popular tune.