C位C wèi

Center position

C wèi gěi nǐ!C位给你！The center spot is yours!

C位 is the center position: the middle of a stage, a group photo or a poster, where the star stands. To take the C位 is to be the main character.

Took off: 2018
Started in: Games and idol shows
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

The C is read as “center”, and 位 means “position”. In a group, the C位 goes to the most popular or most important member.

C位出道 means to debut in the center spot: to start out as the strongest member of a new group.

How people use it

C位 is now everyday Chinese. It works for a group photo, a stage, a poster or a dinner table: whoever is in the middle has the C位.

里昂

来，大家拍张合照！
lái, dà jiā pāi zhāng hé zhào!
Come on, everyone, group photo!
我站哪里？
wǒ zhàn nǎ lǐ?
Where do I stand?
你升职了，C位是你的！
nǐ shēng zhí le, C wèi shì nǐ de!
You got promoted. The center spot is yours!
那我就不客气了
nà wǒ jiù bú kè qi le
Then I won’t be shy about it.

More examples

今天你是寿星，C位给你。
jīn tiān nǐ shì shòu xīng, C wèi gěi nǐ.
Today is your birthday, so the center spot is yours.
她是这个团的C位。
tā shì zhè gè tuán de C wèi.
She’s the center of this group.

Where it came from

Sources disagree on the letter. Sixth Tone says the term began in battle arena games such as Dota 2, where C was the “carrier”, the player who deals most of the damage, and later moved to stage and screen.

A 2019 Jiemian article reads C as “center” and ties the fan use to the Produce 101 format, where the top vote-getter takes the center of the new group.

In 2018 the iQiyi talent show 偶像练习生 made C位出道 a hot topic, according to Jiemian. That December the national language monitoring center put C位 on its list of internet phrases of 2018.