Top 10 Cyberwords in China

• These terms often originate from online platforms like Douyin (TikTok) or gaming communities and spread rapidly through social media  .
• They reflect youth culture, addressing themes like social competition (内卷), emotional expression (破防了), and lifestyle choices (躺平)  .
• Abbreviations and puns are common, driven by input methods (e.g., pinyin shortcuts) and a desire for concise communication

We are a Digital Agency in China, since 2012.

These words can be used in your Marketing Campaign. 🙂

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1. yyds (永远的神)

• Meaning: Abbreviation for “yǒngyuǎn de shén” (eternal god), used to describe someone or something exceptionally outstanding, similar to “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time) in English  .
• Example: “桂林米粉就是yyds！” (Guilin rice noodles are the greatest!)  .

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🤝2. nsdd (你说得对)

• Meaning: Short for “nǐ shuō dé duì” (you are right). It expresses agreement but can also be used sarcastically to end a discussion abruptly  .
• Example: “Nsdd, 我都听你的。” (You’re right, I’ll follow your advice.) 

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😂3. xswl (笑死我了)

• Meaning: Abbreviation for “xiào sǐ wǒ le” (laughing to death), equivalent to “LOL” in English. It signifies something is hilarious 2.
• Example: “这个视频太搞笑了，xswl！” (This video is so funny, LOL!) 

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💬4. u1s1 (有一说一)

• Meaning: Short for “yǒu yī shuō yī” (say one thing if there’s one). It emphasizes honesty and straightforwardness, similar to “honestly” or “let’s be real” .
• Example: “U1s1, 这杯果汁真好喝。” (Honestly, this juice is delicious.)  .

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❓5. bdjw (不懂就问)

• Meaning: Abbreviation for “bù dǒng jiù wèn” (if you don’t understand, just ask). It introduces a question politely, akin to “just wondering” in English 
• Example: “Bdjw, 什么是阿基米德定律?” (Just wondering, what is Archimedes’ principle?)  .

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🏃6. 内卷 (nèijuǎn)

• Meaning: Literally “involution,” it describes intense, often pointless competition in areas like education or work, leading to diminishing returns for everyone involved  .
• Example: “职场内卷太严重了。” (The workplace involution is too severe.)  .

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🛌7. 躺平 (tǎng píng)

• Meaning: “Lying flat,” a lifestyle trend rejecting societal pressures to overwork and pursue material success. It advocates for minimal effort and contentment with simplicity  .
• Example: “我不想加班了，干脆躺平吧。” (I don’t want to work overtime anymore; I’ll just lie flat.) 

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😢8. 破防了 (pò fáng le)

• Meaning: Originally from gaming, it means “breaking defenses,” now used to describe being emotionally overwhelmed, whether by sadness, inspiration, or heartwarming moments  .
• Example: “看到那个故事，我直接破防了。” (Reading that story, I was emotionally shattered.)  .

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👑9. 显眼包 (xiǎnyǎn bāo)

• Meaning: “Attention seeker,” but often used affectionately to describe someone or something conspicuously bold or charmingly quirky 
• Example: “他真是个显眼包，每次聚会都逗笑大家。” (He’s such an attention seeker, always making everyone laugh at parties.)

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⚡10. 特种兵旅游 (tèzhǒngbīng lǚyóu)

• Meaning: “Special forces-style tourism,” referring to hyper-efficient, budget travel where participants visit multiple attractions in a very short time, popular among students  .
• Example: “周末我们尝试了特种兵旅游，一天逛了五个景点。” (We tried special forces-style tourism over the weekend, visiting five spots in one day.)  .

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Previous words

2. 元芳你怎么看 Yuan Fang, what do you think

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Yuan Fang, what do you think

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“Yuan Fang, what do you think” is a sentence from a popular TV soap “the amazing detective Di Renjie” where the leading role, detective Di, always asks his assistant “Yuan Fang”, “What do you think?”. It makes the leading role look like a naive officer, totally depending on his subordinates’ advice.

Now it’s used everywhere on the internet. When you see somebody post his opinion online, you will probably see somebody reply with “元芳你怎么看?”

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3. 杜甫很忙 Du Fu Hen Mang

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Du Fu Hen Mang

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” Du Fu Hen Mang ” means Du Fu is busy. Du Fu was a prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty. He is such a great poet that his poems appear almost every year in the textbook of Chinese students. Some students like those poems while most people don’t like them because they have to recite those poems one after another. So many of them doodle on his image in their textbooks to release their dissatisfaction and talent. Then people discover he is “busy” with many things such as basketball, cycling, and so on.

Then starting with Du Fu, other celebrities from a textbook or even web celebrities become “busy”, too.

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4. 高富帅,白富美 Gao Fu Shuai, Bai Fu Mei

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Gao Fu Shuai

The literal meaning of “高富帅, 白富美” is “tall rich handsome, white rich pretty”. “Gao Fu Shuai” is used for a man and “Bai Fu Mei” is used to describe a female. According to Chinese people’s taste, height, wealth and a handsome face is the symbol of nobility for men and a white face, wealth and beauty is the character of a high-class woman.

But Chinese netizens would like to use these terms to describe “Fuerdai” (the rich second generation) who get a lot of money from their parents. Netizens use those terms to keep themselves away from those rich high-class people or their extravagant life and to show their satisfaction with what they are now.

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5. 矮矬穷 Ai Cuo Qiong

Ai Cuo Qiong

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Contrary to “Gao Fu Shuai” or “Bai Fu Mei”, “Ai Cuo Qiong” refers to people who are “short, ugly and poor”. It was used by a big percentage of netizens who have not so much interest to become “Gao Fu Shuai” and claim themselves as “Ai Cuo Qiong” to show that “Ai Cuo Qiong” have also their own lives.

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6. 你幸福吗 Ni Xing Fu Ma

— Ni Xing Fu Ma?
— My surname is Zeng.[/caption]

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“Ni Xing Fu Ma”, which means “are you happy?” is from a CCTV street interview. The journalists just go on the street and ask random people this “stupid question” as many netizens say. It’s just another meaningless program from CCTV on the way to be forgotten until one construction worker answered “My surname is not Fu, but Zeng” with a serious face. (Ni Xing Fu Ma can also mean is your surname “Fu”)

Then people began to use this question massively with a sense of humor and their scorn against the boring program from CCTV.

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7. 躺着也中枪 Tang Zhe Ye Zhong Qiang

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The meaning of “Tang Zhe Ye Zhong Qiang” is “lying on the ground and get shot”, a famous line from a comedy movie, it refers to people who have extremely bad luck to get shot, evening doing nothing but lying on the ground as a dead body.

When people say that, they probably want to say, “I got fucked even doing nothing!” For example, when Qihoo is in a fight with Baidu, Baidu users discover that they cannot open their Baidu accounts as easily as before, they can say “Tang Zhe Ye Zhong Qiang”.

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8. 给跪了 Gei Guil Le

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“Gei Guil Le”, Kneel down for (you, it…) is another popular online catchword in 2012. In ancient times, the Chinese only knelt down for God or people who conquer or overwhelm them, but now they are willing to kneel down for more people online for stupidity or crazy fantastic things.

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9. 碉堡了 Diao Bao Le

Jay Chow

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What Chinese netizens will use when they want to say ”super-crazy!”? They will say “屌爆了” which means “penis-exploding awesome”. However, “penis” is so harmonious according to most website administrators, so they employ a new homonym “碉堡了” which means “Bunker”.

It becomes famous as a tag of Jay Chow, a famous pop singer from Taiwan. But like most unharmonious words said by celebrities, “碉堡了” goes popular.

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10. 查水表 Cha Shui Biao

Cha Shui Biao

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“Cha Shui Biao”, literally “Check water-meter!” is a new way of saying that this content is against censorship and the poster can be taken away by the policeman.

At the beginning of this year, some people were taken away by police because of posting censorship content online. So many netizens became over-worried and always reminded others of being careful with the censorship, or they will get punished. And from a TV comedy, policemen try to enter a suspected guy’s home smoothly by pretending to be people who check the water meter. Then it becomes kind of kind way to remind others of being careful with censorship.

Here are the top 10 cyber words spotted on Chinese social media: 屌丝 Diaosi, 元芳你怎么看 Yuan Fang, what do you think, 杜甫很忙 Du Fu Hen Mang, 高富帅,白富美 Gao Fu Shuai, Bai Fu Mei, 矮矬穷 Ai Cuo Qiong, 你幸福吗 Ni Xing Fu Ma, 躺着也中枪 Tang Zhe Ye Zhong Qiang, 给跪了 Gei Guil Le, 碉堡了 Diao Bao Le, 查水表 Cha Shui Biao.