3Q
Thank you. The number three in Chinese is sān (sahn) and combined with the English letter Q (sahn-cue) sounds to Chinese ears like “thank you.”
3X
Thank you. X refers to 谢谢 xièxiè (shih shih), which is the Chinese for “thank you.”
NoQ
You’re welcome. It doesn’t make sense aurally but is based on 3Q (above), meaning “thank you.”
520
I love you. “Five two zero” in Chinese is wǔ èr líng (oo er ling), which sounds somewhat similar to 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ (wuh aye nee), the Chinese for “I love you.”
1314
Means “forever” because the pronunciation of “one three one four” in Chinese, yī sān shí sì (ee sahn ee sih), sounds similar to 一生一世 yīshēng yī shì (ee shung ee shih), which means “forever.” Most commonly used in expressions of love, in particular 5201314; i.e., “I love you forever” (see above).
8147
Stands for 不要生气 bù yào shēngqì (boo yow shung chee), “don’t be angry,” because they sound similar-as do the following:
360
想念你 Xiǎngniàn nǐ (shyahng nyinn nee), “miss you.”
246
饿死了 É sǐ le (uh sih luh), “I’m hungry.”
7456
气死我了 Qìsǐwǒle (chee sih wuh luh), “I’m so angry!”
GL
Short for “girl love,” referring to lesbians or lesbianism.
BL
Short for “boy love,” referring to gay men or homosexuality.
MF
Stands for 麻烦 máfan (ma fun), meaning “trouble” or “hassle.”
TAXI
Stands for 太可惜 tài kěxī (tie kuh she), meaning “what a pity” or “that sucks.”
FL
Stands for 发廊 fàláng (fah lahng), or “hair salon,” referring to prostitutes who work under the guise of a hairdresser. Hair salons in China that are actually brothels are usually (usually) recognizable by their pink lighting.
粉丝 fěnsī (fen sih)
Literally “vermicelli” (a type of noodle) but used online to mean “fans” because it sounds similar. Other variants include just 粉 fěn (fen) by itself and 饭 fàn (fahn), literally “rice” or “meal.”
摸我 mō wǒ (mwuh wuh)
Literally means, “touch me.” Used to say “MSN me” (i.e., chat me via MSN). MSN’s instant messaging service is immensely popular in China, and the first letter of MSN sounds to Chinese ears like the word 摸 mō (mwuh), which means “touch.”
得体 détǐ (duh tee)
Literally means “good and proper,” but because it sounds like the English word “dirty,” which has the opposite meaning, the word has been punned on and joked about to the extent that it has now taken on the alternate meaning of “someone who seems good on the outside but is actually bad on the inside.” This new usage has been popularized by the song “Dirty” by Taiwanese-American singer Lee-Hom Wang.
Praise
BT
Stands for 变态 biàntài (byinn tie), which means “perverted” or “deviant” and once referred to homosexuality, sexual fetishes, people with an abnormal fixation on violence, etc. In online culture, however, it has now taken on a joking or positive connotation; thus calling someone BT is akin to cheerfully saying something like “you pervert” or “you weirdo” to a friend, or like saying “you’re so bad” when what you really mean is that you’re impressed.
PF
Stands for 佩服 pèifú (pay foo), meaning “admire.”
赞 zàn (dzahn)
Means “to praise” and is often used online when recommending or raving about a movie, a story, etc.
94
Agreed, I agree. “Nine four” in Chinese is jǐu sì (joe sih), which sounds like the phrase 就是 jiùshì (joe shih), which means “yes” or “it’s true.”
PL
Stands for 漂亮 piàoliàng (pyow lyahng), or “pretty.”
PPMM
Stands for 漂漂妹妹 piàopiào mèimèi (pyow pyow may may), a cutesy way of saying “pretty girl.”
ML
Stands for 美丽 měilì (may lee), or “beautiful.”
Miscellaneous
火星文 huǒxīngwén (hwuh sheeng when)
Internet or text-messaging shorthand, such as “lol,” “Cul8r,” and “b4.” Literally “martian language” because the hodgepodge use of numbers, symbols, made-up words, and letters from other languages looks like a new, foreign (or interplanetary, thus martian) language.
火星人 huǒxīngrén (hwuh sheeng ren)
A martian. That is, someone out of touch with reality or with the latest news and trends. A commenter might jokingly (or pejoratively) reply to such a person, “你是火星回来的吗?” “Nǐ shì huǒxīng huílai de ma?” (nee shih hwuh sheeng hway lie duh ma): “Did you just get back from Mars?” In general, Chinese Internet users frequently make jokes about being from Mars in response to things they find funny or bizarre.
火星贴 huǒxīng tiē (hwuh sheeng tyih)
Literally “post from Mars.” Refers to an extremely old post. If someone posts something old that everyone’s seen before, someone might comment, “This is a post from Mars.”
LZ
Stands for 楼主 lóuzhǔ (low joo), which refers to the author of a post or the person who starts a BBS thread. So you might write something like, “I agree with LZ.” Literally means “building owner” or “owner of the house.”
沙发 shāfā (shah fa)
Literally means “sofa” and refers to the first person to reply to a post. Since LZ (page 182) is the “owner of the house,” the first person to reply, or enter the house, gets the sofa. Sometimes just written in English, as “sofa.” The next commenter after the “sofa” is referred to as 坐板凳 zuò bǎndèng (zwuh bahn dung), meaning “sitting on a bench.”
高楼 gāolóu (gaow low)
Literally means “tall building” and used online to refer to a topic or post that attracts hundreds of replies, making the thread taller and taller, like a high-rise building.
斑竹 bānzhú (bahn joo)
Literally “bamboo” but used to refer to a BBS moderator because it is pronounced exactly like the real term for the moderator, which is 版主 bānzhú (bahn joo).
RT
Stands for 如题 rútí (roo tee), which means “refer to the title or subject.” A common response when someone asks a stupid question, as in, “Look at the title and subject-the answer is obvious from that.”
286
Out of fashion, out of date, old-fashioned. Refers to an old, and thus outdated, computer chip from the 1980s (the Intel 80286).
死机 sǐjī (sih gee)
Means “unexpected computer shutdown.” Literally “dead machine,” but now more widely used to indicate being so dumbfounded by something that you can’t even respond.
蜜 mì (me) and 黑 hēi (hay)
Mì means “honey” and is tacked onto a word to indicate fervent support for a certain athlete or sports team, the way we might use “freak,” as in “He’s a total Raiders freak.” Hēi means “black” and is used the same way, but to indicate hatred.