Chinese internet slanglet it rot

摆烂 bǎi làn

If it's going bad anyway, stop polishing it.

The short answer

CasualCurrent slangChecked November 2026

Bailan means letting something rot openly. When effort clearly cannot save the situation, you stop making it and let the consequences come.

Literal: to lay out + rotten — spread it out and let it spoilRegister: Casual and self-mocking since around 2022.

In a chat

  1. 里昂 Leon

    明天就考试了，你复习了吗？

    Míngtiān jiù kǎoshì le, nǐ fùxí le ma?

    The exam is tomorrow. Have you studied?

  2. 灯灯 Dengdeng

    没有，反正来不及了，我直接摆烂。

    Méiyǒu, fǎnzhèng láibují le, wǒ zhíjiē bǎilàn.

    No. It's too late anyway, so I'm just giving up.

  3. 里昂 Leon

    哈哈，那我陪你一起摆烂。

    Hāhā, nà wǒ péi nǐ yīqǐ bǎilàn.

    Haha, then I'll give up with you.

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How to reply

  • 别摆烂啊，还有一个晚上呢！

    Bié bǎilàn a, hái yǒu yī gè wǎnshang ne!

    Don't give up, you still have a whole evening!

  • 摆烂一天，明天再说。

    Bǎilàn yī tiān, míngtiān zài shuō.

    Give up for one day. Deal with it tomorrow.

When not to use it

  • Do not say a coworker or a team is 摆烂 in front of them. It says they stopped caring.
  • It is slang. In writing, say 放弃 (to give up).

What it means

Bailan is what happens after hope: the group project is doomed, the semester is lost, the team cannot make the playoffs — so everyone stops pretending. Crucially, it is about a specific situation, not your whole life. You can bailan one exam and still be fine.

It is tangping's louder cousin. Lying flat is a quiet lifestyle choice about effort in general; bailan is a dramatic surrender about a particular losing game.

How people use it

Mostly as a verb about oneself, usually with a laugh: 这科我摆烂了, “I've given up on this subject”. It also works as commentary on institutions — a company bailan-ing means management has visibly stopped caring.

Treat it as comedy, not a plan. Friends say it to lower the temperature of a bad week, not to announce real collapse.

Where it comes from

The word may come from Chinese basketball fans, who used it for the NBA idea of “tanking”: a team with no hope of the playoffs loses on purpose to get a better draft pick. Around 2022 it spread from sports talk to everyday life.

It arrived at the right moment — right after tangping, in a job market that felt tighter every year — and gave the mood a sharper, funnier word.

In use

2 examples
01

这(Zhè)学(xué)期(qī)太(tài)难(nán)了(le)，后(hòu)半(bàn)段(duàn)我(wǒ)直(zhí)接(jiē)摆(bǎi)烂(làn)。

This semester was too hard — in the second half I just let it rot.

02

作(Zuò)业(yè)写(xiě)不(bu)完(wán)了(le)，摆(bǎi)烂(làn)吧(ba)，明(míng)天(tiān)再(zài)说(shuō)。

Can't finish the homework — forget it, deal with it tomorrow.

The characters

Explore individually
摆
bǎi

to lay out, to put

烂
làn

rotten, mushy

Individual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.

Sources

This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.

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