2 Tweets 1 reads May 31, 2024
My American friends joke that they will switch to Chinese social media if the US bans TikTok. I think it's a fun idea, but they should probably brush up on Chinese internet slang first.
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Let's begin with three common Chinese internet slangs that are also used by netizens in geopolitical analysis.
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🌼 The first one is "𝐩π₯𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐒𝐜 𝐟π₯𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐒𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐝 (ε‘‘ζ–™ε§ε¦ΉθŠ±, Su Liao Jie Mei Hua)".
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It all started with a joke that went around on Weibo, which goes something like this: "The relationship between good sisters is like a plastic flower; it's fake, but it never withers." The phrase is frequently used to characterise some girls' hypocritical social relations; they dislike each other yet must be fake friends for practical reasons.
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It can be used to build a sentence: "π‘‡β„Žπ‘’ π‘ˆπ‘† π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ πΈπ‘’π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘π‘’ π‘Žπ‘π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘Ÿ π‘‘π‘œ 𝑏𝑒 π‘”π‘œπ‘œπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘–π‘’π‘ , 𝑏𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘™π‘–π‘‘π‘¦, π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘¦ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’π‘–π‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘”π‘’π‘›π‘‘π‘Žπ‘  π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘ β„Žπ‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘Ž 'π‘π‘™π‘Žπ‘ π‘‘π‘–π‘ π‘ π‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿβ„Žπ‘œπ‘œπ‘‘'."
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πŸ‰ "π–πšπ­πžπ«π¦πžπ₯𝐨𝐧-𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐒𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 (εƒη“œηΎ€δΌ—, Chi Gua Qun Zhong)" is the second internet slang.
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The phrase is said to have originated in the ads of some Chinese theatres in the past, which sold snacks such as watermelon or sunflower seeds to viewers sitting in the front rows.
The closest English equivalent of this phrase is perhaps "peanut gallery".
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When commenting on news or posts, many Chinese internet users call themselves "watermelon-eating spectators," implying that they are simply "a passive group of bystanders at a major incident or event." The expression is sometimes associated with gloating or indifference.
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It can be used to build a sentence: "π‘‡β„Žπ‘’ π‘“π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘šπ‘’π‘Ÿ π‘ˆπ‘† π»π‘œπ‘’π‘ π‘’ π‘†π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘˜π‘’π‘Ÿ π‘π‘Žπ‘›π‘π‘¦ π‘ƒπ‘’π‘™π‘œπ‘ π‘– π‘œπ‘›π‘π‘’ π‘‘π‘’π‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘’π‘‘ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘£π‘–π‘œπ‘™π‘’π‘›π‘‘ π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘œπ‘‘π‘  𝑖𝑛 π»π‘œπ‘›π‘” πΎπ‘œπ‘›π‘” π‘Žπ‘  π‘Ž 'π‘π‘’π‘Žπ‘’π‘‘π‘–π‘“π‘’π‘™ π‘ π‘–π‘”β„Žπ‘‘ π‘‘π‘œ π‘π‘’β„Žπ‘œπ‘™π‘‘.' π‘‡β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘'𝑠 π‘€β„Žπ‘¦ π‘šπ‘Žπ‘›π‘¦ πΆβ„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘’π‘ π‘’ 𝑛𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 π‘π‘’π‘π‘Žπ‘šπ‘’ 'π‘€π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘šπ‘’π‘™π‘œπ‘›-π‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘ π‘π‘’π‘π‘‘π‘Žπ‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘ ' π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ 𝑠𝑖𝑒𝑔𝑒 π‘œπ‘“ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ˆπ‘† πΆπ‘Žπ‘π‘–π‘‘π‘œπ‘™. "
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πŸͺ† The last internet slang is ππšπ«π›π’πž-𝐐 (θŠ­ζ―”Q). It comes from the English word "barbecue, " meaning someone is toast, failed, or destroyed. It was first used by a video game blogger with the BGM line, "Oh my, I'm barbecued."
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You may say, "π‘Œπ‘’π‘™π‘™π‘’π‘› 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘š π‘œπ‘£π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘π‘Žπ‘π‘Žπ‘π‘–π‘‘π‘¦ π‘‘π‘œ β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘’π‘Ÿ πΆβ„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘Ž'𝑠 π‘’π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘œπ‘šπ‘–π‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘ π‘ , π‘‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘’π‘”β„Ž 𝑀𝑒 π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘ π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘’ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Žπ‘‘ 𝑖𝑑 𝑖𝑠 π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ πΆβ„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘Ž'𝑠 π‘’π‘π‘œπ‘›π‘œπ‘šπ‘¦ π‘€β„Žπ‘–π‘β„Ž 𝑀𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 π΅π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘π‘–π‘’-𝑄."
It is worth noticing that Hanfu Jiaoling youren (亀領右葽) were cross-collars which overlapped on the front and closed on the right side following the youren (右葽) rule; they can also be described as cross-collar garments closing to the right side, or y-shaped collar.
The way I wrap my collar is regarded as improper by traditional style, even though I am not wearing traditional hanfu but a modern coat that mimics the ancient elements.

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