"方差" means "variance," "型" means "type," and "选手" means "contestant." The variance, an important concept in statistics, is a measure of variability. This Chinese expression, literally translated as “variance-type contestant,” coined by Chinese netizens, refers to students whose performances are not steady and therefore score quite differently when taking various exams (producing a spread data set of exam scores).
2022-10-20
"科技" means "science and technology," "与" means "and," and "狠活," "ferocious activity," can in this context be roughly translated as "badass job."
2022-10-14
“考研” literally means "to take the national graduate program entrance exam," and "倒流" means "back flow." This term, coined by Chinese netizens, refer to the scenario where a student who graduated from a top Chinese university has chosen to enroll at a graduate program with a less prestigious university than their undergraduate school. The term "back flow" is used because traditionally, students often choose to enroll at a graduate program with famous universities, often with a higher rating than their original school. This reverse phenomenon occurs because of the difficulty in finding a decent job and excessive competition with the graduate entrance exams.
2022-10-13
“陆” is short for “陆地” (lùdì, meaning “land”), and “冲” is short for “冲浪” (chōnglàng, meaning “surfing”). This term, coined by Chinese netizens, refers to surfskating, a type of skating done on a board called a surfskate, which is a skateboard with a special surfboard-esque shape and unique features that essentially allow you to surf on the street. The sport was invented by Californian surfers who looked for ways to practice their moves on hard surfaces during flat sea days.
2022-10-11
“小镇” means “small town,” “错题” means “wrong answers,” and “集” means “a collection.” This term is derived from another Chinese catchphrase “小镇做题家” (xiǎozhèn zuòtí jiā, translated as “small-town expert test-taker”).
2022-09-30
"红圈" means "red circle," and "所" is short for "律所" (lǜsuǒ, meaning "law firm"). The idea of "red circle law firms" was first raised by Asian Legal Business (ALB), a top legal journal in Asia, in an article in 2014.
2022-09-29
"三和" is the name of a low-end job market in Longhua District, Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province, and "大神," which literally means "big god," is used by Chinese netizens to jokingly refer to those with extraordinary skills in a certain field, such as computer experts, those we might think of as geeks.
2022-09-22
"干净" means "clean," "又" means "also, as well," and "卫生" means "sanitary." This term, translated as "clean and sanitary," is frequently used by Bilibili travel vlogger Liu Yong to conclude his short videos. The funny young man's videos went viral, and people now use his catchphrase sarcastically to describe food that they think is "neither clean nor sanitary."
2022-09-16
The transliteration of the Japanese saying "だめ," this term can be translated as "no way, you can't, I don't allow it." It's often used by women in conversations with those close to them, sometimes expressing a kind of fake annoyance.
2022-09-15
"虾" means "shrimp," "系" means "style, type," and "男" refers to "male." Chinese netizens coined the term to describe a man who has a perfect stature yet not a good-looking face.
2022-09-13
If you look at Douban, a topics-based Chinese social network popular among the young, you will come upon many groups with labels related to “FIRE.”
2022-09-09
“回音室” means "echo chamber," and "效应" means "effect." Information can come from many different sources and perspectives, but when you're only hearing the same perspectives and opinions over and over again, you may be in something called an echo chamber.
2022-09-08
“玉米” is corn in Chinese, and “穿搭” means “dress.” Together the phrase means dress like a corn. This is a term describing a way of dressing that stems from layered clothing, or the onion layering system.
2022-09-02
“空耳” or soramimi, literally meaning “empty ear” in Chinese, is a Japanese word for humorous homophonic translation of words or song lyrics, that is, deliberately reinterpreting words or lyrics in one language as similar-sounding words or lyrics in another language for comic effect. It's part of the contemporary internet meme culture.
2022-09-01
“千元” means “1,000 yuan,” and “店” means “shop.” Like the one-dollar stores in the United States, there have been 10-yuan shops in China that sell stationery, accessories like hair ribbons and handkerchiefs, and other small things, with prices marked at or lower than 10 yuan apiece.
2022-08-26
“尊重” means “respect,” and “祝福” means “blessing.” This term is used sarcastically by Chinese netizens to express a mixed feeling of disapproval and understanding toward someone or something they think as absurd.
2022-08-25
Literally translated as “What bicycle do you want,” this sentence first appeared in a standup comedy show performed by Zhao Benshan and Fan Wei during the Spring Festival gala in 2001. Chinese netizens rediscovered the sentence and used it jokingly to imply that someone is greedy and shameless to the extent of absurdity.
2022-08-23
“清” means “to clean,” and “零” means “zero.” It can be translated as “back to zero.” Originally, this term was often associated with the practice of resetting a computer, removing the files and cleaning the drives.
2022-08-19
“厅” is translated as “department,” “局” is translated as “bureau,” and “风” means “style.” This term, coined by Chinese netizens, refers to a male dressing style often seen in civil servants and government officials. The typical look of this style consists of a white shirt, dark suit pants and a dark blue or dark gray jacket, with the finishing touch of a pair of low-key black leather shoes, not too shiny or pointy.
2022-08-18
This Chinese character literally means “brilliant” or “to show off.” However, the character is used in the northeastern Chinese dialect to mean “to eat (or drink) greedily.” Some people explain that this character is in fact used mistakenly in the place of a homophone “楦” that means “to make full.” Like many other usages from the northeastern Chinese dialect, this character was quickly picked up by Chinese netizens for its humorous effect.
2022-08-12