佛系fó xì

Buddha-style (laid-back)

dōu xíng, wǒ hěn fó xì.都行，我很佛系。Anything’s fine. I’m very laid-back.

佛系 means “Buddha-style”: calm, easygoing and not fighting for anything. You call yourself 佛系 when you take whatever comes, from a lost game to a late package.

Took off: 2017
Started in: A Japanese magazine term
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

佛 is Buddha and 系 means “type” or “style”. The label borrows the image of calm and applies it to daily life; it has nothing to do with religion.

It attaches to many words: 佛系青年, “laid-back young people”, 佛系生活, a whatever-happens life, 佛系追星, being a fan without the effort. A well-known sticker, the 佛系三连, sums up the attitude in three replies: 都行, 可以, 没关系, “anything’s fine, OK, no problem”.

How people use it

It is everyday Chinese. Said about yourself, it can mean you stay calm, or it can be a soft excuse for not trying. Said about someone else, it can mean they lack drive, so watch your tone.

灯灯

你抢到演唱会门票了吗？
nǐ qiǎng dào yǎn chàng huì mén piào le ma?
Did you manage to get concert tickets?
没有，我佛系了
méi yǒu, wǒ fó xì le
No. I’ve gone zen about it.
真的不难过？
zhēn de bù nán guò?
You’re really not upset?
有就去，没有就在家听
yǒu jiù qù, méi yǒu jiù zài jiā tīng
If I get one, I go. If not, I listen at home.

More examples

考试能过就行，我现在很佛系。
kǎo shì néng guò jiù xíng, wǒ xiàn zài hěn fó xì.
As long as I pass the exam, it’s fine. I’m very laid-back now.
他打游戏很佛系，输了也不生气。
tā dǎ yóu xì hěn fó xì, shū le yě bù shēng qì.
He’s chill about games. He doesn’t get mad when he loses.

For the word itself and how to reply to it, see 佛系 in the slang dictionary.

Where it came from

The word came from Japan. A Japanese magazine wrote about 佛系男子, men who would rather spend time alone with their hobbies than date, according to the explanation on China’s 2018 list of internet phrases. Language Log gives the magazine’s year as 2014.

In China it took off in December 2017, when a post about young people’s 佛系生活, a laid-back life, spread online, NBD reports. The meaning widened to anyone who does not compete or care about winning.

In 2018 it made two year-end lists: 咬文嚼字’s ten popular phrases and the ten internet phrases of the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center.

The original. No single post. The term came from a Japanese magazine, and Chinese articles spread it in December 2017. The Paper’s report on the 2018 list explains it. The Paper (in Chinese)