Meaning:
Short for “冬天阴性打工人” (dōngtiān yīnxìng dǎgōngrén), this term literally means “an employee with a negative nucleic acid test result this winter,” implying that whereas many others have tested positive for COVID and are on sick leave, this group has to keep working and perhaps shoulder more workload on their jobs. During the recent flare-ups of the COVID pandemic in many cities, Chinese netizens coined this humorous address as a homophone of another term “冬阴功,” referring to tom yum kung, a spicy Thai shrimp soup.
Example:
A: 你最近好吗？
Nǐ zuìjìn hǎo ma？
How have you been?
B: 好多同事阳了，我还是冬阴工。
Hǎoduō tóngshì yáng le，wǒ háishì dōngyīngōng。
Many of my colleagues have tested positive for COVID, but I’m still fine and working.