Gei li, Tuan gou, Miao sha, Wei bo, Shen ma dou shi fu yun ….do you know what these Chinese words mean? These days, if you want to surf the internet unimpeded, then you have to first understand what these “internet buzzwords” mean. We list the top 10 hot Chinese words in 2010 and give a back look to this year’s events. The following catchwords and internet buzzwords of 2010 are not to be missed.
-
1. 神马都是浮云 [shénmǎ dōushì fúyún]
Shen Ma Dou Shi Fu Yun (not worth mentioning) - 神马都是浮云
: Everything is meaningless, unimportant, illusory, fleeting, or not worth mentioning
“神马” [shen ma, literally "god horse", or a pegasus] is not actually a horse, but a pun of “什么” [shen ma, what]. “神马” is just like the “虾米” [xia mi, small dried shrimp] that was once popular on the internet, and has become the hottest buzzword at the moment. The meaning of “浮云” [fu yun, passing clouds] is similar to being an illusion, fleeting, “not worth mentioning”.
It became popular due to the “Xiao Yue Yue” incident that became popular all over the internet during the 2010 National Day Holiday period. In a post titled “I thank this obnoxious friend for bringing me such a dismal National Day Holiday”, “Xiao Yue Yue” was born, her strange words and deeds stupefying all living things, leading to netizens connecting “shen ma” and “fu yun” together, giving birth to phrases such as: “No words can describe her, they are all too dull/boring, shen ma [what] internet uninhibited woman, fu yun [not worth mentioning]! All fu yun [not worth mentioning]!” What makes “shen ma” and “fu yun” magical is that when when these two words are combined together, they can uis that when these two words are combined, it becomes multi-purpose, applicable to all situations.
As a result, “神马都是浮云” [shen me dou shi fu yun] also became one of 2010′s most popular internet catchphrases. According to a 2010 December 8th “Southern Metropolis Daily” report, in a vote between “神马都是浮云”, “最给力”, and others, “神马都是浮云” was the most popular, its “rate of usage” reaching 66.7%. “给力”, which originated from comedy manga, had a 63.2% “rate of usage” and had to settle for second place.
Gei Li (giving power) - 给力
Definition: “cool,” “awesome” or “exciting.” Literally, “giving power.”
A Chinese neologism, “给力” is pronounced “gěi lì”. “geili,” which means, “cool,” “awesome” or “exciting,” had been granted the “official seal of approval” by appearing in The People’s Daily. “Geili” is created from two Chinese characters “gei” and “li.” Literally, it means “giving power,” but is now widely accepted as an adjective describing something that’s “cool.”
A test of a Chinese jargon word’s trendiness is if users translate it into a foreign language, according to its pronunciation. “Geili” has been transformed into the English-sounding “gelivable,” and “ungelivable,” and the French “très guélile.”
But it was the word’s antonym “bugeili” – meaning dull or boring – that first grabbed wider public attention after it appeared online in May in an episode of a Chinese-dubbed Japanese comic animation “Journey to the West: The End of the Journey” [Saiyuki?]: “This is India? It does not gei li, teacher.”
Tuan Gou (Group Buy) - 团购
Definition: Group buy or group purchasing
On 2010 November 2nd, the country’s National Development and Reform Commission publicly released the results of their October urban food retail price monitoring. Amongst the 31 products it monitored, nearly 80% of the product prices had increased. At the same time as people cut costs, they also discover new ways to do things.
If you search the keyword “Group Buy” in Chinese, you’ll find more than 100 million results. Industry observers say there are nearly one thousand websites organizing group purchases in China. The annual turnover is estimated at a minimum of one billion Yuan.
It all started when American website Groupon went online in November 2008 and soon became a commercial success. Groupon can achieve a gross profit ration of 10 percent. That’s quite high. The business model is no doubt very lucrative. That’s why many Chinese companies followed. The Chinese clones of the site, called 团购网 (tuangou wang), are quickly becoming some of the most popular online shopping platforms in China.
FYI: If you are curious, and because it is not actually one of the top 10 buzzwords in the list, 秒杀 [miao sha/seckill/instant kill] is like “instant buy” or “flash buy”, something that is for sale at a cheap price but only for a very limited time or only a certain number are available. The KFC coupon controversy earlier this year was an example. On the internet, Taobao (similar to eBay) is a place where you can see a lot of miao sha. “Seckill” is the most popular online shopping method at present.
-
4. 微博 （围脖）[wēi bó] – microblog
Sina Weibo (Microblogging) - 新浪微博
“微博” [wei bo], short for 微博客 [wei bo ke] (microblog), is a platform for sharing, disseminating, and accessing user information. Users can go through the WEB, WAP, as well as various client software, updating information of up to around 140 characters, and immediately share it. The earliest and most well-known microblog is the American Twitter which, according to relevant publicized data, as of 2010 January, already has 75 million registered users around the world. In 2009 August, with China’s largest portal website Sina releasing “Sina Weibo” in private beta, it became the first portal website to provide microblogging service, and microblogging officially entered the mainstream Chinese-language internet population’s consciousness.
-
5. 我爸是李刚 [wǒ bà shì lǐ gāng]
Wo ba shi li gang - My father is Li Gang - 我爸是李刚
On the night of 2010 October 16th, while drunk driving, Li Qiming caused one death and one injury within the Hebei University campus. After being stopped by other people, he shouted, “My dad is Li Gang” (Li Gang is the deputy chief of a public security bureau in Baoding City).
The Li Gang Case is the sort of gripping socio-drama — a commoner grievously wronged; a privileged transgressor pulling strings to escape punishment. Increasingly, that grievance focuses on what Chinese mockingly call the 富二代[Fu er dai] — the “second generation,” children of the super-rich. The first Rich generation are the group who became rich after Chinese Reform and Opening Up policy through running private business. Most of their children were born in the 80s of 20th century with excellent living conditions, good education and has extensive community resources.
A month after the accident, much of China knows the story, and “My father is Li Gang” has become a bitter inside joke, a catchphrase for shirking any responsibility — washing the dishes, being faithful to a girlfriend — with impunity.
On Oct. 20, a female blogger in northern China nicknamed Piggy Feet Beta announced a contest to incorporate the phrase “Li Gang is my father” into classical Chinese poetry. Six thousand applicants replied, including “No need to panic after any crime, because my father is Li Gang,” and “I never pay my telephone bills because my father is Li Gang.”
-
6. 金庸 “被辞世” [Jīn Yōng "bèi císhì"]
Bei Ci Shi (declared to be passed away by someone) - 被辞世
Definition: “to be passed away”, literally by someone else.
One way to understand 被辞世 [Bei Ci Shi] is that someone declared you to have passed away when you have not actually passed away.
Louis Cha (simplified Chinese: 查良镛; traditional Chinese: 查良鏞), better known by his pen name
Jin Yong (Chinese: 金庸), is a modern Chinese-language novelist. Cha’s fiction, which is of the Wuxia (武侠， martial arts and chivalry) genre, has a widespread following in Chinese-speaking areas.
On the night of December 6th, a “Jin Yong has passed away” rumor spread wildly on microblogs. “Jin Yong, born 1924 March 22, passed away at 19:07 on 2010 December 6th at Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui Saint Maria Hospital as a result of encephalitis and callus edema.” Around 8pm on the evening of December 6th, this piece of information exploded on the microblogs, some swearing it was true, some questioning if it was fake news, some demanding evidence. All of a sudden, whether Master Jin was alive or dead became uncertain. Within a short half hour, this microblog message had been reposted by thousands of netizens. While everyone was seeking the authenticity of the information, there were also netizens who had begun to eulogize and grieve over Master Jin Yong and his contributions to the wuxia [martial arts] genre for a generation.
-
7. 非常艰难的决定 [fēicháng jiānnán de juédìng]
Feichang Jiannan de jueding - extremely difficult decision - 非常艰难的决定
Definition: extremely difficult decision.
A fierce battle over alleged unfair business practices in November exploded between Tencent, operator of the popular instant-messaging software QQ, and Qihoo 360, China’s biggest antivirus service provider. What was originally just two companies fighting for their own self-interests, as a result of both sides having huge amounts of users, in the end it evolved into an internet “farce”.
非常艰难的决定 [fēicháng jiānnán de juédìng] means “extremely difficult decision”. It originated from a public letter that Tencent QQ sent its users telling them that they will not be able to use their QQ instant messenger service as long as they have 360 software installed on their computer. Tencent said “Dear QQ users, this email is to inform you that
we’ve just made a very difficult decision. Until Qihoo 360 removes the tag-on service and malicious slander against QQ software, we have decided to stop running QQ software on computers that have installed the 360 software. We are fully aware of the inconvenience this may cause you, and we sincerely apologize for it.” At that point, no one believed QQ’s sincerity and it became a joke.
-
8. 羡慕嫉妒恨 [xiànmù jídù hèn]
Xianmu jidu hen - envious jealous hateful - 羡慕嫉妒恨
Definition: envious jealous hateful
“羡慕嫉妒恨” [xian mu ji du hen, literally "envious jealous hateful"], one phrase five characters, rich with connotations.
The first time the media widely quoted “xian my ji du hen” was in 2009: In less than 3 days, Zhang Yimou‘s Chinese New Year’s comedy “三枪拍案惊奇” ["A Simple Noodle Story"] had mad nearly 70 million [RMB] in box office receipts with scenes of people waiting in line to buy tickets appearing in many places. However, at the same time, this movie had been viciously criticized, saying it was low class, like an er ren zhuan, like a short sketch, not like a movie, that the art style was out-of-date, that it completely relied upon slapstick humor to get laughs, saying “the two Zhangs” [director Zhang Yimou and producer Zhang Weiping] used the simplest scenes and the cheapest actors to “steal money”…and this wasn’t the first time. On 2009 December 13th, Zhang Weiping responded by saying that many people in the movie industry are only 5 characters: “xian mu ji du hen” [they are critical only because they are envious, jealous, and hateful].
Yanggao ti - lamb style - 羊羔体
Definition: lamb style
Lamb Style refers to a controversial poem “Xu Fan” which won the Lu Xun Prize for Poetry 2010. The verse, which according to online critics lacks both rhyme and meter, was coincidentally written by a senior party official called Che Yangao. The buzzword itself is a pun/play on Che Yanggao’s name. It originated from a short message posted on Sina Weibo that asked “‘梨花体’后’羊羔体’?” which roughly means “first ‘lihua ti‘ then ‘yanggao ti‘? 梨花体 refers to a Zhao Lihua, a woman whose poetry is also widely criticized. The name of the poet “Yangao” sounds rather like the word “Yanggao” for lamb in Chinese.
Nao tai tao - not at all - 闹太套
Definition: not at all
Huang Xiaoming (simplified Chinese: 黄晓明) is a Chinese actor, model, and singer. He is most well-known for playing the lead character “Yang Guo” in the successful 2006 TV series The Return of the Condor Heroes.
It is said that “闹太套” [nao tai tao, "not at all"] is actually old. In 2008, when Huang Xiaoming performed the Olympic song “One Word One Dream”, the pronunciation of one of the lyrics “not at all” was just like the Chinese words “nao tai tao” and spread widely.
FYI:
China’s top 10 Internet catchphrases and buzzwords of 2009
1. Money’s not a big deal. (or Money’s not a problem. Money’s nothing.)(不差钱)
2. What I’m eating is not noodles, but solitude.(哥吃的不是面，是寂寞)
3. Don’t be infatuated with me. I’m only a legend. (不要迷恋哥，哥只是一个传说)
4. Jia Junpeng, mom wants you back home for dinner.(贾君鹏,你妈妈喊你回家吃饭)
5. Tableware is to the table what tragedy is to life.(人生就像茶几，上面摆满了杯具)
6. I’ll pay the debt of gratitude by selling myself. (人情债,我肉偿了)
7. Lazy the Sheep is what we want to be. Big Big Wolf is the perfect husband.(做人要做懒羊羊，嫁人就嫁灰太狼)
8. Believe in Bro Chun, you’ll live a long life; believe in Big Zeng, you’ll pass every exam.(信春哥，得永生；信曾哥，不挂科)
9. When a verb acts passive aggressive (被就业，被加薪，被自杀…)
10. This cannot be told in details.(这事儿不能说太细)
《2011北京国际青年新年派对》 
“Make the change”2011东乐跨年欢唱会 
2011中国武警文工团新年晚会 
