There's a curious breed of Mandarin that is only used for dubbing foreign films and series. Literally nobody in China would speak like that. In particular, the word 見鬼 is used to translate all sorts of English expletives.

Hi Beth, That's a good question! I agree with your both understandings of 见鬼. 见鬼 is used as an exclamation (sometimes a vehement expression of complaint). 鬼 is usually associated with mysterious things. So when one came across something odd, he or she would say "见鬼了！怎么会这样？" which means "that's odd! Why is that?" or "damn it! Why is that?" Secondly, 见鬼 can be interpreted literally as "to meet ghosts" or "to go to hell". You might hear one of the lines from TV shows says, “让这些害人精见鬼去吧” meaning "let these bad guys meet ghosts". On your particular questions, I rarely say 见鬼 in Mandarin, would probably use it more often in Cantonese. It's not that offensive if you use it to show surprise, but I wouldn't use it in front of kids. You will hear it from TV shows more frequently than in daily conversations, I suppose. I've read a reference regarding the usage of "鬼", and taken some notes as follows which might conclude how 鬼 is used in other ways. Hope it explains a bit more. 1) 鬼 as a reference to indicate "who" “鬼”作为指示代词时，表示“谁、哪个” Example: 鬼去咩！(Cantonese) 谁会去啊！(Mandarin) Who (the hell) would go? (English) 2) 鬼 as an adverb to describe something to a certain degree    “鬼”作为副词时，表示“很、非常” Example: 鬼咁靚 (Cantonese) 好漂亮 (Mandarin) Stunningly gorgeous (English) 3) 鬼 as a noun to describe a person    “鬼”作为名词时，表示“家伙、东西” Examples: 衰鬼 — 坏家伙 - bad guy 鹹濕鬼 — 好色的人 - pervert 大頭鬼 — 有钱人 - rich guy 咩鬼 — 什么东西 - What (the hell) is that? 小鬼唔見得大神 — 人在大场面怯场 - small potatoes feeling inferior in front of bigwigs

When I see someone has done some outrageous or ridiculous things I will say it 见鬼了 （撞鬼你咩） It usually used in the time that you have seen something bad or you shouldn’t see it

见鬼 to see a ghost or ghosts. Literally you meet ghosts but In reality it means you are faced with something bad. 1. to say something you experience is weird or odd. For example you heard the knocks at the door, but when you opened the door, there was no one. You can say 见鬼 . Or, when you fell down on your knees without knowing why, you can say 见鬼. 2. to disappear or die, go to hell. For example, see ghosts( go to hell), cockroaches. Hope all bad luck see ghost (disappear) 3. ability to see supernatural powers or things. I can not see ghosts so I can not be an exorcist.