Foreign words that were adopted into Chinese with the closest possible pronunciation. Some of these are pretty funny, probably because the use of random characters to emulate sound feels awkward. In fact, Chinese has fewer loanwords than just about any other major language.
It's important to note that many of these forms are not standard, and so more than one variant may exist, not necessarily with the same pronunciation. Some of these variants are indicated below.
Of course many proper nouns, like names of people, countries, companies, etc. are also translated like this, and I'm not including these, unless the word has transceded the entity that initially bore the name, such as Jesus, Satan and Nobel ...
| 邏輯 | luo2 ji2 | logic |
| 幽默 | you1 mo4 | humor |
| 摩登 | mo2 deng1 | modern |
| 沙拉 | sha1 la1 | salad |
| 沙發 | sha1 fa1 | sofa |
| 沙龍 | sha1 long2 | salon |
| 坦克 | tan3 ke4 | tank |
| 引擎 | yin3 qing2 | engine |
| 摩托車 | mo2 tuo1 (che1) | motor (cycle) |
| 迷你 | mi2 ni2 | mini |
| 吉他 | ji2 ta1 | guitar |
| 貝斯 | bei4 si1 | bass (guitar) |
| 薩克斯風 | sa4 ke4 si1 feng1 | saxophone |
| 麥克風 | mai4 ke4 feng1 | microphone |
| 阿斯匹靈 | a1 si1 pi3 ling3 | aspirin |
| 維他命 | wei2 ta1 ming4 | vitamin |
| 荷爾蒙 | he2 er3 meng2 | hormone |
| 攝氏 | she4 shi4 | Celsius |
| 芮氏 | rui4 shi4 | Richter |
| 伏特 | fu2 te4 | Volt |
| 諾貝爾 | nuo4 bei4 er3 | Nobel |
| 耶穌 | ye1 su1 | Jesus |
| 撒旦 | sa1 dan4 | Satan |
| 摩門教 | mo2 men2 (jiao4) | Mormon (religion) |
| 駭客 | hai4 ke4 | hacker |
| 模特兒 | mo2 te4 er2 | (fashion) model |
| 樂透 | le4 tou4 | lotto |
| 卡通 | ka3 tong1 | cartoon |
| 可樂 | ke3 le4 | cola |
| 土司 | tu3 si1 |
toast The word 'tusi' has come to refer to white bread, while actual toast is referred to as 'kao mianbao'. |
| 起士, 奇司 | qi3 shi4, qi3 si1 | cheese |
| 漢堡 | han4 bao3 | hamburger |
| 貝果 | bei4 guo3 | bagel |
| 威佛 | wei1 fo2 | waffel |
| 瑪芬 | ma3 fen1 | muffin |
| 三明治, 三文治 | san1 ming2 zhi4, san1 wen2 zhi4 | sandwich |
| 巧克力 | qiao3 ke4 li4 | chocolate |
| 布丁 | bu4 ding1 | puding |
| 咖啡 | ka1 fei1 | coffee |
| 咖啡因 | ka1 fei1 yin1 | coffein |
| 卡布奇諾 | ka3 bu4 qi2 nuo4 | cappuccino |
| 瑪琪雅朵 | ma3 qi2 ya3 duo3 | macchiato |
| 摩卡 | mo2 ka3 | mocha |
| 拿鐵 | na2 tie3 | latte |
| 優格 | you1 ge2 | yoghurt |
| 美乃滋 | mei3 nai3 zi1 | mayonnaise |
| 檸檬 | ning2 meng2 | lemon |
| 咖哩 | ga1 li3 | curry |
| 培根 | pei2 gen1 | bacon |
| 菲力 | fei1 li4 | fillet (steak) |
| 郎姆 | lang2 mu3 | rum |
| 威士忌 | wei1 shi4 ji4 | whiskey |
| 白蘭地 | bai2 lan2 di4 | brandy |
| 嗎啡 | ma3 fei1 | morphine |
| 海洛因 | hai3 luo4 yin1 | heroin |
| 可卡因 | ke3 ka3 yin1 | cocaine |
| 尼古丁 | ni2 gu3 ding1 | nicotine |
| 雪茄 | xue3 jia1 | cigar |
| 高爾夫 | gao1 er3 fu4 | golf |
| 撲克牌 | pu1 ke4 (pai2) | Poker (cards) |
| 爵士 | jüe2 shi4 | Jazz |
| 壓克力 | ya1 ke4 li4 | acrylic |
| 尼龍 | ni2 long2 | nylon |
| 派對 | pai4 dui4 | party |
| 羅曼蒂克 | luo2 man4 ti4 ke4 | romantic |
| 奧林匹克 | ao4 lin2 pi3 ke4 | Olympics |
| 瑜珈 | yü2 jia1 |
yoga from Sanskrit |
| 柔道 | rou2 dao4 | judo from Japanese |
| 芒果 | mang2 guo3 |
mango from Malay |
| 榴槤 | liu2 lian2 | durian from Malay |
| 比薩 | bi3 sa4 | pizza |
| 比基尼 | bi3 ji1 ni2 | bikini |
| 芭蕾舞 | ba1 lei2 (wu3) | ballet (dance) |
| 探戈舞 | tan4 ge1 (wu3) | tango (dance) |
| 華爾滋舞 | hua2 er3 zi1 (wu3) | waltz (dance) |
| 基因 | ji1 yin1 | gene |
| 摩組 | mo2 zu3 | module often used in the context of software |
| 雷射 | lei2 she4 | laser |
| 雷達 | lei2 da2 | radar |
| 酷 | ku4 | cool |
| 巴 | ba1 | bar as in 'shala ba' - salad bar |
| 卡 | ka3 | card as in 'xin yong ka' - credit card |