狗头 gǒu tóu
The dog face that means “just kidding”.
The short answer
OnlineCurrent slangChecked November 2026
Goutou means “dog head”: the dog-face emoji, or the text [狗头], that people add after a joke so that nobody takes it seriously. It works like “just kidding” or “/s”.
In a chat
- 里昂 Leon
你做的蛋糕怎么是黑色的？
Why is your cake black?
- 琦琦 Qiqi
这是新口味，烤焦味。
It's a new flavor: burnt.
- 里昂 Leon
很好吃，下次别做了[狗头]
Delicious. Don't make it again. [just kidding]
- 琦琦 Qiqi
哼！
Hmph!
In the Dengdeng app, Dengdeng and his friends text you in Chinese every day, at your level.
How to reply
哈哈，下次给你也做一个[狗头]
Ha, I'll bake you one next time. [just kidding]
你是认真的，还是开玩笑？
Are you serious, or joking?
When not to use it
- A dog head does not make a rude comment polite. If the joke hurts, the emoji will not fix it.
- Some older people read the emoji as a dog and nothing more. Use it with friends who know it.
What it means
On WeChat and Weibo, the 狗头 is a yellow dog face. In typed text it appears as an emoji or as [狗头]. It tells the other person that the line before it is a joke, irony or a tease.
People call this 狗头保命, “a dog head to save my life”: you add the emoji so that nobody gets angry at what you wrote.
How people use it
Put it at the end of the line: 我是天才[狗头]. It softens a tease, marks a fake boast, or shows that a complaint is not serious.
Do not use it after a line that is not a joke. A dog head after a plain answer such as 好的 only confuses people.
Where it comes from
A 2020 article on Huxiu calls 狗头保命 a popular phrase on the Chinese internet and a meme that comes from the Doge image, the Shiba Inu dog meme.
Chinese Wikipedia's page on Doge says that WeChat and Weibo have emoji based on the image, and it cites a 2021 report that the Doge emoji was the most used WeChat emoji over five years.
In use
2 examples我是天才，不接受反驳[狗头]
I'm a genius, no arguments accepted. [just kidding]
老板今天夸我了，明天应该会涨工资吧[狗头]
My boss praised me today. I'll surely get a raise tomorrow. [just kidding]
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual 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.