Chinese internet slang, explained
The words Chinese social media actually uses — what they mean, where they came from, and how to use them without sounding like a textbook.
Every December, a Chinese language magazine publishes a top-ten list of the year's internet words. Most of the winners fade within a season. A few — 内卷, 躺平, 搭子 — escaped the internet and became ordinary Chinese that you now hear in offices, classrooms, and family dinners.
This guide covers the slang that is worth your time: the words with real staying power, the ones Chinese friends will actually use around you, and the number codes you will see in every comment section. Each page explains the meaning, the story behind the word, and how to use it naturally — with examples you can copy.
If you want the behind-the-headlines version, our journal keeps a running explainer of China's official internet-word lists. For the memes behind the words, from 囧 to 哈基米, see our Chinese meme encyclopedia. And when you meet a slang word in the wild, you can always look up its characters in the dictionary.
Work and the grind
China's workplace vocabulary went viral because it named feelings people already had. Start with neijuan and its antidote tangping.
Pointless over-competition — the rat race, named
Lying flat — opting out of the race
Let it rot — giving up on purpose
“Morning, fellow workers” — the meme for everyone with a job
9 to 9, six days a week
Oxen and horses: the self-mocking word for overworked staff
Company livestock: the corporate drone
Touching fish: slacking off at work
People, friends and dating
Words for types of people and for how friends and couples treat each other, from the top student (学霸) to the single person who jokes about it (单身狗).
A lunch partner, a gym partner — friendship à la carte
Emotional value — does being around them feel like a gain?
Both sides running toward each other
Acting spoiled — charm with a goal
The spotlight finds them — the lovable scene-stealer
Single dog: a single person, self-mocking
Love brain: a partner before everything else
Study tyrant: the top student, and its opposite 学渣
Foodie: once an insult, now a proud label
Buddha-style: calm, easy-going, not competing
Socially anxious, and its opposite, socially fearless
Praise, laughter, and letter codes
Typed faster than any character input method. If you read Chinese comment sections, you have already seen these.
Screens, feeds and AI
Chinese named the feed era fast: naofu is what endless scrolling does to you, AI垃圾 is what the feed serves instead of content, and dianzi zhacai is why you keep coming back anyway.
Brain rot — what the feed does to you
AI slop — machine-made filler, named garbage
Digital pickles — the video your meal requires
Nonsense literature — many words, zero information
Artificial stupidity — the pun that deflates AI
Eating melon: watching the drama from the side
Keyboard hero: brave in the comments, quiet offline
Internet red: influencers and viral places
Bullet comments: text that flies across the video
Feelings
Short words for strong moods: embarrassment, a sad song, a video that makes you cry.
Money and shopping
What people say after a big online sale, and about people who take money from buyers who do not know better.
Memes
Lines and emoji that started as one joke and became part of everyday chat.
Mild insults
Teasing words that friends use with each other. The mild insults table lists more, with how rude each one is.
Viral moments that stuck
These words started with one speech, one hashtag or one post, and people still use them.
Slang dates quickly, so treat this guide as a snapshot of words that have already proved they last. The dictionary's words in context and frequency lists cover the standard vocabulary these expressions grew out of.
Search measurements
Beam preview · 15-second idle timeout · No prewarming. Total time includes the network and any container startup. “First search” identifies a new Go process; it is not a separate measurement of Beam’s startup time.