单身狗 dān shēn gǒu

What it means

A 单身狗 is a single person who watches couples with envy and humor. The 狗 (dog) is self-mocking: it means “a poor creature”. People rarely say it with pride; they say it with a sigh and a smile.

How people use it

单身狗 jokes come on the days for couples: Valentine's Day (情人节, February 14), the Qixi festival (七夕) and 520. November 11 is 光棍节, Singles' Day, which became the date of China's largest online sale.

The 狗 ending works for other groups too: 加班狗 (overtime dog) is a person who always works late. 累成狗 means “tired like a dog”.

Where it comes from

The World of Chinese wrote in 2015 that single people like to label themselves with “dog” in a self-mocking tone, and that nobody can quite explain why. The article ties the word to Singles' Day on November 11.

In 2023, the same magazine wrote that many young people now push back against the label and call themselves 单身贵族, “single nobles”, instead.