China's Top Slang

[Randy W]

Walk tens of thousands of steps a day, sleep at the train station instead of a hotel, and see as many sights as quickly as possible… Cash-strapped Chinese college students have embraced “special forces tourism” as they finally see the country after three years of pandemic restrictions.

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
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Walk tens of thousands of steps a day, sleep at the train station instead of a hotel, and see as many sights as quickly...

Posted by Sixth Tone on Monday, May 1, 2023

 

[Randy W]

The post-’90s new generation of Chinese parents is shunning traditional parenting methods. Instead, they are turning to a more radical, and untested, approach to discipline, where parents mirror their children’s behavior.

Read more: https://ow.ly/Ar9A50P9lsV

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
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[Randy W]

Emoji ‘deathly’ smiley face chat icon ranks most hated among youth in China due to subtle taunt which induces ‘panic’

• They were meant to simply sum up a mood while chatting online but there is much more to emojis than meets the eye
• Survey ranks top 10 most-hated chat icons and you will be surprised to find innocent messages could land you in deep trouble

from the SCMP

In the case of young people in China, that often means a negative connotation.

A report on the 10 most hated WeChat emojis, carried out by the Chinese research institute Oh! Youth, and based on more than 1,600 questionnaires, went viral online last week.

Quote

 

While the app’s in-built emojis which feature yellow faces with various expressions are slightly different from those on smartphones, they are popular, and some have assumed different meanings than originally intended.

In the case of young people in China, that often means a negative connotation.
A report on the 10 most hated WeChat emojis, carried out by the Chinese research institute Oh! Youth, and based on more than 1,600 questionnaires, went viral online last week.

 

 

[Randy W]

Is your ‘love brain’ making you feel ‘yu yu’? A ‘city walk’ should fix it or maybe ‘military-style travel’? You need the Post’s guide to cool China slang

• With an array of dialects and sub-dialects, China is like a linguistic jigsaw, now another layer of conversational complexity has been added
• Social changes and economic challenges have seen the country’s young people adopt a whole new online ‘language’ of slang

from the SCMP

A whole new slang “language” has been adopted online by young people in China. Here, the Post presents a guide to help you understand it. Photo: SCMP Graphic Image
 

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Just when you thought China could not get more linguistically complicated – the country has eight main dialects and numerous sub-dialects – young people in the planet’s second most populous country have decided to add another layer of conversational complexity.

This new “dialect” comes in the shape of a slew of slang phrases which, for the uninitiated, can be a tad confusing.

Trust us, the people who use such slang are not deliberately trying to exclude you from the conversation – the expressions are not part of some secret code – they simply cannot resist them.

So, in order to guide you through this new linguistic maze, the Post presents its guide to the latest trendy phrases on mainland social media.

city walk

military-style travel

love brain

yu yu

e-people/i-people

 

 

[Randy W]

Did you ever commit to a New Year’s resolution you could barely remember by February? Some young Chinese are going through that same wringer every day. Waking up dedicated to “fighting” for a better life, by bedtime they’re so exhausted they just want to lie down and listen to sad music.

Check out more Daily Tones: https://ow.ly/alpJ50PLTcl

 

 

[Randy W]

Literally meaning “eye-catching,” 显眼包 (xiǎn yǎn bāo) and its variations appear in a number of Chinese dialects. Now, it’s become a byword for attention-seekers, goofballs, and anyone who is willing to get weird for a like.
 
Check out more Daily Tones: https://ow.ly/Llkm50PPvv0

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Edited September 26, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Whenever Florida Man does something, Chinese fans must know. After headlines like “Florida patient loses patience, steals ambulance to get home from hospital” and “Florida man charged after calling 911 for Vodka” have gone viral on Chinese social media, netizens have adopted the phrase, “There are no idlers in Florida,” a commentary on the bizarre and wacky reputation of the U.S. state. (Photo: zhihu.com)
Check out more Daily Tones: https://ow.ly/P9zN50PI9aJ

佛罗里达不养闲人
Fóluólǐdá bù yǎng xiánrén

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
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Edited October 18, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Literally meaning “crispy skin college students,” the #脆皮大学生 tag has become a playful hangout for the country’s less physically gifted college students — a place they can go to swap stories of pratfalls, poor immune systems, and embarrassing injuries.

Check out more Daily Tones: https://ow.ly/1Vfp50PVpBt

脆皮大学生
Cuì pí dàxuéshēng

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook 
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[Randy W]

With social media increasingly resembling an emotional trashcan, it’s no surprise that people are using it to purge their most painful feelings. The resulting mess is known as “cyber vomit.”

Check out more Daily Tones: https://ow.ly/k97650Q0rG1

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