Mandarin Monday: Top 10 Internet Phrases of 2017

原创 Charles L. theBeijinger

China's most popular internet phrases this year incorporate everything from old Stephen Chow movies to street dance battles as seen by a recent list published by People's Daily.

The list is the result of 30,000 online votes for the year's biggest internet trends that shares many similarities to our list made earlier this summer.

Here are the hot new phrases that Chinese have been using online as well as a short primer on where they came from.

1. Do you even freestyle?
Chinese: 你有freestyle吗？
Pinyin: Nǐ yǒu freestyle ma?

This year's hottest Chinese internet phrase combines the phenomena of pop idol celebrity, reality television shows, and rap music and boils it all down to this short catchphrase.

The phrase originated on a reality TV show where celebrity host Kris Wu (吴亦凡) was repeatedly heard grilling contestants with this same question, over and over.

The result was a torrent of memes where netizens satirized Wu's credentials as a rap artist, pointedly asking each other for their freestyle credentials in various permutations.

But what started out as satire ended up being a promotional windfall for The Rap of China (中国有嘻哈, or "China's Got Hip-Hop"), due for another season after a massive reception this year. Likewise, Wu is as popular as ever, as seen by his die-hard fans who steadfastly defend his infamous "noodle rap."

2. That is so heart-rendering, my old friend
Chinese: 扎心了, 老铁
Pinyin: Zhāxīn le, lǎo tiě

Regional dialects have sometimes made their way to the national stage with the help of the Chinese internet, such as with this example that conveys deep-seated sadness.

The origin of this phrase, which literally means "prick to the heart," reportedly comes from a live-stream broadcast concerning a Dongbei child in need in which this bullet comment (which basically means "That is so heart-rendering!") was seen many times.

One reason behind the popularity for this phrase could be its apt use of a metaphor. In the Dongbei dialect, "老铁" means "old friend" but also "old steel," thereby suggesting a counterpart to what is being "pricked" ("扎").

3. Poverty limits my imagination
Chinese: 贫穷限制了我的想象力
Pinyin: Pínqióng xiànzhì le wǒ de xiǎngxiàng lì

Previously targeted with the phrase "willful/headstrong" (任性 rènxìng), China's nouveau riche again gets ridiculed in this phrase that had been previously coined before but returns to popular usage online.

Reportedly originating from an online discussion about luxury goods, the phrase is again a reminder that economic divisions are again relevant in today's China.

4. Doesn't this ache your gentle heart?
Chinese: 你的良心不会痛吗？
Pinyin: Nǐ de liáng xīn bù huì tòng ma?

"Et tu, Brute?" gets its Chinese internet version in this phrase that expresses dismay over a betrayal by one of China's most venerated cultural figures.

As seen on Zhihu (China's version of peer advice platform Quora), internet users were shocked to find out that Chinese poet Li Bai wasn't as compassionate as his celebrated works would have you believe. Even though Li's contemporary (and other venerated cultural figure) Du Fu highly respected Li and even dedicated poems to his name, the gratitude wasn't reciprocated. Instead, Li snubbed Du, choosing to dedicate poems to another (less popular) poet.

This phrase is also notable for its use of a group of parrot puppet mascots used by Japanese telecom operator Docomo in a 2015 advertising campaign.

5. Unexpected, but not by accident; surprised, but not shocked
Chinese: 惊不惊喜？意不意外?
Pinyin: Jīng bù jīngxǐ? Yì bù yìwài?

The Chinese internet isn't adverse to popularizing poetic phrases, especially when it's funny.

This phrase, used to express ambivalence, originally began as a dialogue between Maggie Cheung and Stephen Chow in the 1992 Hong Kong film, All's Well, Ends Well. The resurgence of this phrase has been used to describe an unexpected turn of events or to ridicule dramatic reversals in a story.

6. Please begin your performance
Chinese: 请开始你的表演
Pinyin: Qǐng kāishǐ nǐ de biǎoyǎn

The theatricality of Chinese society gets the spotlight in this phrase that is often heard during reality television shows and competitions.

7. And, what ... this thing?
Chinese: 还有这种操作?
Pinyin: Hái yǒu zhè zhǒng cāozuò?

Originating in China's e-sport circles, this phrase is used to criticize or praise something surprising.

8. Embarassing conversation
Chinese: 尬聊
Pinyin: gàliáo

Unlike many of the other phrases on this list that are catchphrases in the form of a rhetorical question, this is a term to describe something very old: the cringeworthy awkwardness of a bad conversation.

Interestingly enough, this phrase comes from another internet sensation, the street-style dance battle called "尬舞" (gà wǔ) in which videos show people awkwardly flailing their bodies in time to music in public.

9. Immaculate thespian
Chinese: 戏精
Pinyin: xì jīng

Originally used to describe someone with excellent acting skills, this popular online phrase has been repurposed with a negative connotation to describe attention-seekers and shameless self-promoters.

10. Let's go, mantis shrimp!
Chinese: 皮皮虾，我们走!
Pinyin: Pípí xiā, wǒmen zǒu!

This long-lived and nonsensical meme has enjoyed enduring popularity likely because it is made up of two memes.

The "Let's go" part stems from the summons chant from Yu-Gi-Oh: Official Card Game, while the "mantis shrimp" with duplicated characters originally served as a nonsense word to express dissatisfaction.

Images: Sohu.com, QQ Fashion (fashion.qq.co), SKZ-Tech.com, Hexun.com, 3lian.com, Weibo.com, Huanqiu.com, Chuanlian56.com

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