EYESHENZHEN  /   Chinese language

Catch Phrase | 下课（xiàkè）

Frequently heard on campus, this term, translated as “end of class,” is often used by teachers to announce the end of a class session.

2020-06-30

Catch Phrase | 糊了（húle）

“糊了” literally means “overcooked, burnt.” However, Chinese netizens use the term jokingly as short for “胡萝卜” (Chinese for “carrots”), which is the transliteration of “flop.”

2020-06-29

Catch Phrase | 散装英语（sànzhuāng yīngyǔ）

“散装” meaning “unpackaged,” as opposed to “prepackaged,” is often used to describe food for sale in stores and markets. “英语” means “English.”

2020-06-23

Catch Phrase | 塑料普通话（sùliào pǔtōnghuà）

“塑料” means “plastic,” and “普通话” means “Mandarin,” the standard spoken Chinese primarily based on the Beijing dialect.

2020-06-22

Catch Phrase | 封麦（fēngmài）

“封” means “to put the seal on,” and “麦” is the Chinese transliteration of “mic,” short for “microphone.”

2020-06-18

Catch Phrase | 讨好型人格（tǎohǎoxíng réngé）

“讨好” means “to curry favor with,” “型” means “type,” and “人格” means “character.”

2020-06-16

Catch Phrase | 反差萌（fǎnchāméng）

First used in ACG (anime, comics and games), the term describes a scenario where a person’s appearance is completely deceitful of their true character, and a comedic effect arises from the huge contradiction.

2020-06-15

Catch Phrase | 跟风（gēnfēng）

“跟” means “to follow,” and “风” means “wind,” which can also be used as a metaphor for “trend.”

2020-06-11

Catch Phrase | 退出群聊（Tuìchū qúnliáo）

Literally translated as “to exit a group chat,” this term originally refers to the scenario where a WeChat or QQ user “deletes and leaves” a group chat and therefore no longer receives new messages from that group.

2020-06-09

Catch Phrase | 龙舟水（ lóngzhōushuǐ ）

Frequently seen in news headlines recently, this term, translated as “dragon boat rain,” refers to the large amount of precipitation observed in South China around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival (the fifth day in the fifth month of the lunar calendar).

2020-06-08

Catch Phrase | 豪横（háohèng）

“豪” means “tough, bold and powerful,” and “横” here means “overbearing.”

2020-06-04

Catch Phrase | 炸街（zhàjiē）

“炸” literally means “to explode,” and “街” refers to “streets.”

2020-06-02

Catch Phrase | 精神小伙（ jīngshén xiǎohuǒ）

“精神”when used as an adjective means “energetic” and “looking neat,” and “小伙” refers to “young men.”

2020-06-01

Catch Phrase | 托尼老师（tuōní lǎoshī）

Literally translated as “Teacher Tony,” this term was coined by Chinese young people to jokingly refer to hairdressers.

2020-05-28

Catch Phrase | 祖安人（zǔ’ānrén）

“祖安” (pinyin: zu’an) is the name of a China Telecom server used by a group of players of the popular game “League of Legends,” and “人” means “people.”

2020-05-26

Catch Phrase | 太可了（tàikěle）

“太” means “very,” “可” is short for “可以,” which means “OK,” and “了” is an auxiliary word with no actual meaning.

2020-05-25

Catch Phrase | 二级狗（èrjígǒu）

“二级” literally means “secondary,” and “狗” means “dogs.” Many Chinese young people call themselves “dogs” in a self-mocking way, like “single dogs” for singletons and “overtime dogs” for those forced to work overtime.

2020-05-21

Catch Phrase | 毛孩子（ máoháizi）

Literally, “毛” means “hairy,” and “孩子” means “child.”

2020-05-19

Catch Phrase | BM风（BM fēng）

“BM” is short for the brand name “Brandy Melville,” and in addition to the more familiar meaning “wind,” “风”also means “style.”

2020-05-18

Catch Phrase | 道德绑架（dàodé bǎngjià）

Literally, “道德” means “moral,” and “绑架” means “kidnapping.” This Chinese term means “to use moral values to pressure others into doing the thing you want them to do, often against their own will.”

2020-05-14