烟花 (yānhuā) primarily means 'fireworks' — the colorful explosions in the sky. It differs from 烟火 (yānhuǒ), which also means 'fireworks' but can refer more broadly to 'smoke and fire' (e.g., cooking smoke or gunfire). In Yuan dynasty theater, 烟花 had a literary sense of 'prostitute', distinct from the modern slang 小姐 (xiǎojiě) which can also mean 'prostitute' but is potentially offensive.