Meaning:
“团” means “team” or “group,” and “灭” means to “wipe out.” A term originating from games like “World of Warcraft” and “League of Legends,” it means the majority or all members of a team of players are wiped out in the battle. It has been used as a metaphor for the failure of a group. When referring to exams, it means either many people fail to pass an exam or one person is beaten by a rival in all subjects.
Example 1:
A: 期末考试结果出来了吗？
Qīmò kǎoshì jiéguǒ chūlái le ma?
Did you get the results of the final exams?
B: 出来了。我这次被小明团灭了，语数外理化生每科都比他低。
Chūlái le。Wǒ zhècì bèi xiǎomíng tuánmiè le, yǔ shù wài lǐ huà shēng měi kē dōu bǐ tā dī。
Yeah. I was totally beaten by Xiao Ming. He has better scores than me on Chinese, math, English, physics, chemistry and biology — all subjects.
Example 2:
A: 上半年销售业绩那么好，你要求加薪了吗？
Shàngbànnián xiāoshòu yèjī nàme hǎo, nǐ yāoqíu jiāxīn le ma?
Your sales for the first half of this year were superb. Did you ask for a pay raise?
B: 别提了，我们五人申请加薪队伍团灭了。
Biétí le, wǒmen wǔrén shēnqǐng jiāxīn duìwǔ tuánmiè le。
I don’t hear about it any more. The five of us who raised the subject were all rejected.
(First editor: Debra Li)