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 untranslatable at all: the characters niu and bi can be rendered into English with great precision by the words – and I beg your pardon – ‘cow pussy’, niu being the zoological reference, bi the anatomical. But though the denotation of niubi is embarrassingly plain, it’s connotations are far from obvious.
Niubi is a term of approbation, perhaps the greatest such term in colloquial Chinese. 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 essence of ‘cool’, but taken to the nth degree, and with a dirty word thrown in.
Of course, like all great philosophical concepts, niubi has an inverse side - an excess of niubi leads to self-importance, arrogance, hubris, imperiousness, and very dangerous driving.