Meaning:
Originally the term refers to set moves in martial art practice. Then it was borrowed by players to refer to tricks and strategies used in game playing. A Chinese singer named Jin Jiuzhe released a song in December 2012 by the title of “嗑儿” (in northestern Chinese, “Small Talk”). A line in the song went viral, which says “谁把谁当了真, 套路玩的深” (Who genuinely cares for you? They are just playing games). Nowadays, people often use the term to refer to “tricks” in a general sense.
Example:
A: 双十一你买什么了？
Shuāngshíyī nǐ mǎi shénme le?
What did you buy on Nov. 11, the Chinese online shopping festival?
B: 只买了些零食。
Zhǐ mǎi le xiē língshí。
I just got myself some snacks.
A: 没买点衣服？
Méi mǎidiǎn yīfú?
You didn’t buy clothes?
B: 先涨价再打折，送了券让你接着买。过季商品清库
存，电商的套路深。
Xiān zhǎngjià zài dǎzhé, sòng le quàn ràng nǐ jiēzhe mǎi。Guòjì shāngpǐn qīng kùcún, diànshāng de tàolù shēn。
The sellers hiked the prices before giving you discounts, and sent you gift coupons to encourage further spending. The online stores know a lot of tricks in pushing sales for their out-of-date commodities.
(Edited by Stephanie Yang)