Chinese (Mandarin) slang
靠谱
kào pǔ
Reliable, dependable; a plan or person that makes sense.
- Literally:
- 靠 to lean on + 谱 a score / a plan (a sense of what's proper)
How it's used
Originally northern colloquial, 靠谱 is now standard everyday Mandarin for people you can count on and ideas that are sound. The opposite is 不靠谱 (“flaky, sketchy”). It's casual but polite enough to use at work — saying a colleague is 很靠谱 is real praise.
Examples
小王做事很靠谱，交给他你放心。
Xiǎo Wáng zuòshì hěn kàopǔ, jiāo gěi tā nǐ fàngxīn.
Xiao Wang is really reliable — you can relax handing it to him.
这个计划听起来不太靠谱。
Zhège jìhuà tīng qǐlái bú tài kàopǔ.
This plan doesn't sound very solid.