网瘾 wǎngyǐn (wahng een)
Internet addiction. In 2008 China became the first country in the world to officially recognize this as a clinical disorder, similar to alcoholism and compulsive gambling, after several well-publicized cases in which young people died after spending days or weeks glued to the computer screen in Internet cafés. The country has several officially licensed Internet addiction clinics and has also seen a spate of unlicensed, hidden Internet cafés where kids banned from the Internet by their parents secretly go to play games.
Emoticons and expressions
颜文字 yán wénzì (yen when dz)
Emoticon. Literally “face character.”
凸
In normal written Chinese, this is the character 凸 tū (too), meaning “convex.” It is frequently used on the Internet as an emoticon, however, because it looks like a hand giving the middle finger.
Orz
Meant to look like a person kneeling on the ground, on hands and knees, with head bowed-the O is the person’s head, r is the arm and torso, and z is the bent leg. Used to express shock, hopelessness, frustration, despondence, or, more positively, respect or awe-basically any emotion that might be suggested by a kneeling figure.
A few variations (among many) include:
szQ (Orz kneeling in the opposite direction and licking the floor)
Oroz (Orz with a fat stomach)
囧
An emoticon indicating sadness, frustration, shock, or amusement. The character 囧 jiǒng (jyohng-the o sound is long), which dates back to ancient times, originally meant “bright” but has taken on this new meaning because it looks like a sad face (or a shocked or amused face, depending on your interpretation). “Jiǒng culture” has taken off as a full-fledged fad that has spilled over into real life-the character can even be found on T-shirts, bags, and other accessories.
A few variations (of many) include:
商 (jiǒng wearing a bamboo hat) d 囧 b (jiǒng with a thumbs-up on either side of its face, from a Pepsi marketing campaign called “Love China”)
囧rz (Orz combined with jiǒng, so that the kneeling person has a jiǒng face)
槑 meí (may)
Stupefied, shocked. This obscure character dates back to ancient times and means “plum.” It is made of two characters for 呆 dāi (die) next to each other, and since 呆 alone can mean something like “dumb” or “astounded” or “foolish,” having two next to each other doubles the degree.
雷 leí (lay)
Literally “thunder.” Used to indicate shock or surprise or outrage (or any emotion that might be represented by the image of someone being thunderstruck). Moreover, on both the Internet and in real life 雷人 léirén (lay ren), literally “thunder person,” has come to mean “outrageous” or “shocking” or “absurd.” One especially common expression is 太雷人了 tài léirén le (tie lay ren luh), meaning “too outrageous” or “that’s so stupid” or “that’s insane.”
汗 hàn (hahn)
Means “sweat” and is used, usually in reply, to indicate feeling embarrassed or dumbfounded (that is, an emotion that makes you sweat).
泪 lèi (lay)
Means “tear” or “teardrop” and used online to express sadness or crying.
晕 yūn (een)
Means “dizzy” or “faint” and is often used to express surprise, shock, amusement, or disgust; that is, emotions that might make you feel faint.
我倒 wǒ dǎo (wuh daow)
Literally, “I fall over.” Used the same way as yūn (above).
VoV
Represents a person holding up two peace signs on either side of his or her face.
闪
The character 闪 shǎn (shahn) means “flash” and is used in online chatting to mean “leaving,” as when you leave a chat room-you might say 我闪了 wǒ shǎn le (wuh shahn luh), “I’m leaving”-or “avoid doing something.”
Insults and mockery
BS
Usually means the English “bullshit” but may also stand for 鄙视 bǐshì (bee shih), which literally means “despise.”
JP
Stands for 极品 jípǐn (gee peen), literally “extreme conduct.” Basically means “weirdo” or, rather, an eccentric or anyone who behaves unconventionally.
LB
Stands for 篱笆 líbā (lee bah), the name of an online forum (Liba) known for being popular among materialistic girls. Vapid, shallow girls, then, are often dismissively described as
LB.
BC
Stands for 白痴 báichī (buy chih), or “idiot.”
SL
Stands for 色狼 sèláng (suh lahng), or “pervert.”
永久性脑残 yǒngjǐu xìng nǎocán (yohng joe sheeng now tsahn)
Literally means something like “permanent brain damage” and used to comment on someone or something you find weird or crazy.
小白 xiǎobái (shaow buy)
Layman, novice, someone with little knowledge about something (such as computers). Literally “little white.” Refers to 白痴 báichī (buy chih), which means “idiot.”
菜鸟 caìniǎo (tsie nyow-caì rhymes with “pie”)
Newbie. Literally “food bird.” Pigeons raised for food are of a lower class than homing pigeons, and thus the phrase is used to describe junior-level people in various fields.
国猪 guózhū (gwuh joo)
Literally “country’s pigs” or “national pigs.” An insulting pun on 国足 guózú (gwuh dzoo) (zhū and zú sound similar), which is the term for China ’s national soccer team-a target of much abuse among soccer fans due to its poor performance and frequently scandalous or embarrassing behavior. Speaking of which…
我是洗澡来的 wǒ shì xǐzǎo laí dè (wuh shih she dzow lie duh)
Literally, “I just came here to take a shower.” Refers to a 2008 scandal when members of the Chinese national soccer team got caught checking into a hotel with a bunch of women who may or may not have been hookers. One of them protested by saying, “I just came here to take a shower.” Now the phrase is often used as a euphemism for any feeble excuse.
恐龙 kǒnglóng (kohng lohng-like “Kong” and “long” but pronounced with a long o, or oh, sound)
Online slang for an ugly girl. Literally “dinosaur.”
青蛙 qīngwā (ching wah)
Online slang for an ugly guy. The counterpart to “dinosaur” (above). Literally means “frog.”
拍砖 paīzhuān (pie jwahn)
Literally means “smack with a brick.” Used online when strongly criticizing someone or something. For example, you might say 请拍砖 qǐng pāizhuān (ching pie jwahn), literally “please smack with a brick,” to mean “prove it”; or 我拍砖 wǒ pāizhuān (wuh pie jwahn), literally “I smack with a brick,” to mean “here’s what I think.”