chinese net-speak (part 3) ::
:: as a follow-up to part one and two, here is some more on Chinese net-speak, courtesy of a recently published CIC white paper titled “The Diversity of Chinese Net Language.” View / download the paper in English or Chinese.
If everything below is “old hat” for you, try taking CIC’s Chinese net-speak test. If you get every question correct, Sam Flemming, the founder and CEO of CIC, .
1) The word “ke” / “客” is used all over the place online, for example:
- shai ke / 晒客 – Netizens who “shows off” online via pictures and videos; “Shai ke” typically “shai” things brand-name goods / products, personal collections, recent purchases, decorations, pets, new haircuts, and…well…just about any thing else worth shai’ing
- shi ke / 试客 – Netizens who love samples & freebies; “Shi ke” are professional samplers happy to participate and join activities for free stuff in return; you can find hanging out on sites like iTry and Try2u
- pai ke / 拍客 – Netizens “reporters” who use digital video or photo to capture and share interesting (i.e. cool or hot) stuff with the online community; sites like Ku6 have tapped into this culture by organizing “bounty hunter” type competitions and campaigns
- bo ke / 博客 – Netizens that write blogs, i.e. blogger(s); nterestingly the word for blog and blogger in Chinese is exactly the same
- bo ke / 播客 – Netizens that create and upload user-generated content; this phrase also can refer to netizen “podcasters,” as bo (in this case “播”) means to broadcast
- huan ke / 还客 – Netizens who barter for goods or products online
- ji ke / 极客 – Netizens who could be considered tech / IT / Web geeks; in some uses the term can mean “hacker” (黑客)
- shan ke / 闪客 – Netizens who use the multimedia software Flash to create animations, videos, etc.
- zhui ke / 追客 – Netizens who are up-to-date on all the latest online trends such as online novels, online TV series, hot memes, etc.
- wei ke / 威客 – Netizens who receive payment for sharing knowledge and exchanging services / information
2) Mars language (火星文):
- created and used mostly by China’s post-90’s generation (九零后), this “language” combines symbols, pictographs, and English letters / grammar, together with rare and traditional Chinese characters; post-90 netizens have created dedicated sites, manuals, and even software / input methods for Mars language
- to the right is a letter composed completely in the Mars language (link)
- English translation: “Dear Jing: I didn’t make a draft of this letter before writing to you, but I will make an exception this time. Without you, my life resembles a piece of paper filled with black and white letters. I am missing the time we spent together laughing and hanging out at home. Although you haven’t answered my letter, it’s ok.”
3) Jiong / 囧, discussed in part one, has evolved into an entire “family” of related net terms:
- 崮 / gu – 囧国国王, the king of the Jiong empire
- 莔 / meng – 囧国皇后, the queen of Jiong empire
- 商 / shang – 戴斗笠的囧, Jiong with a bamboo hat
- 回 / hui – 没眼睛的囧, Jiong without eyes
- 四 / si – 没嘴巴的囧, Jiong without a mouth
- d 囧 b – 百事可乐“爱中国”的手势, the Pepsi’s “Love China” gesture
- T囧T – 鄙视你的囧, Jiong looking down on you
- 囧rz and ssr囧 – 下跪的囧, kneeling person with Jiong face
- 囧囧有神 – 十分囧, 囧到“有神,” very Jiong
- for more on Jiong, link to the official Jiong Web site.
4) Combining letters allows netizens to communicate in simple yet precise ways:
- Orz – 跪倒, a way to show respect to an expert, well-regarded professional, or someone you just admire, as it resembles a person kneeling; the “O” is the figure’s head, “r” is its body and arms, “z” is its legs
- sto – 换一边跪, same as above, except the figure is kneeling in a different direction
- org – 美人鱼, a mermaid
- prz – 长发垂地的Orz, the same as “Orz,” but with hair hanging straight down
- szQ – 换一边并舔地的Orz, the same as “Orz,” but kneeling in another direction and licking the floor
- OTL – 这是完全失落, totally frustrated
- Oroz – 这是有小腹的Orz, the same as “Orz,” but with a fat stomach
5) Similarly, the same can be said for numbers. Many of these usages date to “pre-Web” times, back in the days of pagers / beepers / Morse code in China:
- 555 – 五五五, onomatopoeia for a crying sound
- 8147 – 不要生气, don’t be angry
- 1314 – 一生一世, forever
- 520 – 我爱你, I love you
- 360 – 想念你, miss you
- 88 – 拜拜, bye bye
- 246 – 饿死了, I’m hungry
- 82475 – 被爱就是幸福, being loved is happiness
- 4242 – 是啊是啊, yes
- 5871 – 我不介意, I don’t mind
6) Coined phrases or terms:
- “zhujianqiang” (猪坚强) – literally the “persistent pig,” represents persistence when facing tough times, referring to the famous pig that survived for 36 days after the Sichuan Wenchuan earthquake by drinking rain drops and moisture off of charcoal; the die-hard spirit of this pig impressed Chinese netizens so much so that some even composed songs and videos to praise the pig; even real estate mogul Pan Shi Yi referred to the pig’s persistence when publicly expressing his bullish (piggish?) attitude toward the ailing real estate sector.
- 雷 (lei) – to shock somebody, example usage, “最能“雷”到菲尔普斯的估计非下面这句莫属了…” / “The comments by the TV analyst that will “lei” Phelps the most are…” link
- 霹雳 (pili) – extra “lei,” example usage, “所谓自由泳，就是什么泳姿都可以采用…..等等，“霹雳”到大批的电视观众.” / “Freestyle swimming means you can swim using any style, so the swimmer can “pili” the audience.” link
- 宅男 / 宅女 (zhainan / zhainv) - people who prefer to stay at home, example usage, “菲尔普斯原是“宅男” / “Michael Phelps is a “zhainan”" link
- 俯卧撑 (fuwocheng) - literally translates to “pushups,” but means “none of my business”
- 打酱油 (dajiangyou) - literally translates to “buying soy sauce,” but means “none of my business”
- 叉腰肌 (chayaoji) - iliopsoas/hip muscle
- 山寨 (shanzhai) - knockoff
- 做人不要太CNN (zuo ren bu yao tai CNN) - “don’t be like CNN,” a phrase that became popular online after messy reporting by CNN related to the protesting in Tibet in mid 2008
7) Information technology product or industry specific net-speak:
- 本本 (ben ben) – a generic nickname for notebook / laptop
- 悍马 (han ma) – nickname for motherboard series produced by Jetboard
- A饭 (A-fan) – “A-Fan” refers to AMD fans, it also refers to ATI fans in the graphic card BBS forums; however, after AMD acquired ATI, ATI fans are also considered as AMD fans
- 小黑 (little blackie) – a nickname for Lenovo’s ThinkPad
- 本友 (ben you) – nickname for those that own a notebook / laptop
- I饭 (I-fan) – a nickname for Intel fans
- for more from the IT category, link here
8) Cosmetic product or industry specific net-speak:
- JM or JMs (姐妹们) – sister or sisters
- 晒 (shai, to “show off”) – to take a picture of cosmetics collections, then upload online to “show off” and share user experience, etc.
- 败家 (baijia, a spendthrift) – netizens who spend too much money on high-end luxury brand cosmetics to maintain their skin, beauty, etc.
- 长草 (zhang cao, to grow grass) – refers to netizens that are motivated to buy products after seeing other netizens “shai” or show them off; netizens use the phrase when they are influenced or looking to be influenced by recommendations from like-minded consumers
- 兽 (shou, to “show off”) – essentially the same as “shai”
- 818 (ba yi ba, 八一八) – to talk about or gossip about
- for more from the cosmetics category, link here
9) Automobile industry specific net-speak:
- 肉 (rou) – weak driving power or acceleration
- FB or fubai (腐败) – a humorous usage of the Chinese word “corruption.” AUto-enthusiast netizens like to spend money and hangout with each other by organizing offline activities (dinner parties, traveling, etc.); they refer to these activities as “fubai” or FB
- LD or lingdao (领导) – while literal meaning boss or leader, netizens usually use it to refer to their wife, girl friend, and / or children
- for more from the automobile category, link here
10) Sports specific net-speak:
- XXX蜜 / XXX黑 (XXX lover / XXX hater) – netizens who show strong support for certain athletes or teams are called “XXX lover,” example usage, a “Yao lover” would be a 姚蜜; on the contrary, those who frequently criticize certain athletes or teams are called “XXX hater,” example usage, a “Yao hater,” would be a 姚黑
- 筒子 (tongzi) – used as “mates or buddy” is used in English; a term netizens use to refer to other netizens chatting in the same forum as them; this term is frequently used in sports forums
- 卡路里 (kaluli, or calorie) – in some online basketball communities, this term refers to the virtual currency used within the forum
- 绿衫军 (green shirt army) - a term used to refer to the Boston Celtics
- Kobe Bryant nicknames - KB, 大神 (Da Shen, or Great God), 小飞侠 (Xiao Fei Xia, or Peter Pan), K24, Mamba
- Yao Ming nicknames - Yao, 大姚 (Da Yao, or Big Yao), 要命 (Yao Ming, same pronunciation as Yao Ming’s real name (姚明), but with different intonation and meaning, 姚哥 (Yao Ge, or Big Bro’ Yao), 大Y (Da Y, or Big Y)
- for more on the sports category, link here
// AjS
December 18th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
补充一下, 俯卧撑 is what you say when something really bad is going on but you don’t want to point it out because you’re afraid of getting in trouble… And orz is not necessarily respect, it’s also when somebody does something badass that you *could* do but wouldn’t want to because it has possibly harmful consequences. Like the guy who stunned himself with the stun gun and put it on Youku, you might orz him because he did something 厉害 but you woudn’t do it yourself.
I only got a 40% on the CIC quiz :(
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Didn’t Martian originate in Taiwan, then later become more of a Mainland phenomenon?
December 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Hi all, this is Richard from CIC, thanks for reading our whitepaper :)
@ Micah Sittig
For some sensitive terms such as “俯卧撑,” we purposely did not explain too much. For the paper, we chose a rather safe explanation.
For some terms such as “orz” mentioned, its original meaning is to show respect, but with the creativity of Chinese netizens, it has evolved to express many feelings, some netizens even “orz” just because the others write some sentence which he / she feels cool.
March 15th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
[...] 随着”The Internet is THE Community”(网络即社区)网络口碑白皮书系列主题三：多彩纷呈的中文网络语言和主题四：网络口碑重塑品牌与消费者的关系在我们CIC四周年庆同时的发布，我们此份网络口碑白皮书系列终于完整地呈现给了读者。（为了配合主题三的发布，CIC同时特别推出了有趣的中文网络语言在线小测试，有兴趣的朋友还可以点击这里参加该测试。）我还要特别感谢我的朋友，Adam，不仅把我们的中文网络语言以更为详细清晰的文本形式展现给读者（点击这里查看），而且还对此份白皮书系列做了进一步概述和推广（点击这里查看）。当然，就像我上个月提到的，尤其要感谢我们的知识管理团队在编撰此份白皮书过程中所做的一切努力！ [...]
March 27th, 2009 at 2:48 am
[56minus1 editorial note: this comment has been edited for relevancy and political correctness.]
The original meaning of Orz is the same as OTL, snO, and many of the similar emoticon is just another version of orz. The original meaning is like failure and despair…it came from the Japanese, oh ya, they invented this emoticon. It is often MISUSED as admire toward something or someone. People use internet languages that they don’t even know the meaning, just all b/c others are using it…it can sometime be really funny to see other misuse things like this…but because so many are misusing orz, the
taiwanese andchinese meaning of orz has meaning of admire in addition to the Japanese meaning.I personally think the “admire” is a little bit off for orz, it can mean I am defeated by you, but not as admire…it shows more frustration than admire well, the last part of this comment is my personal opinion.
March 27th, 2009 at 11:42 am
@ asian, thanks for your response.
You are correct, most of the “Orz”-related slang is originally Japanese. But as this entry is titled “Chinese net-speak,” I kept most of the details specific to how Chinese netizen’s use the slang, which, as you note, is slightly different than the original Japanese meaning.
// AjS