皮一下pí yí xià

Being cheeky for a moment

pí yí xià hěn kāi xīn.皮一下很开心。Being cheeky is fun.

皮一下 means “to be cheeky for a moment”: to play a small trick, or to end something serious with a joke. 皮 here means naughty.

Took off: 2018
Started in: Game streams
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

皮 is short for 调皮, “naughty”. 一下 makes it brief: one small act, and then you stop. People often add 很开心, as in 皮一下很开心, “being cheeky makes me happy”.

It fits a post or a reply with a twist: it starts serious and ends as a joke.

How people use it

皮一下 is still common, and friendly. When a friend adds a silly last line to a serious message, you can say 你可真皮, “you’re so cheeky”, or ask 皮这一下你很开心吗, “did that make you happy?”

灯灯

我有个重要的事要告诉你
wǒ yǒu gè zhòng yào de shì yào gào su nǐ
I have something important to tell you.
什么事？
shén me shì?
What is it?
今天是星期五！
jīn tiān shì xīng qī wǔ!
Today is Friday!
就这？你可真皮
jiù zhè? nǐ kě zhēn pí
That’s it? You’re such a tease.
嘿嘿，皮一下很开心
hēi hēi, pí yí xià hěn kāi xīn
Heh. Being cheeky makes me happy.

More examples

他把我的闹钟调到了五点，就想皮一下。
tā bǎ wǒ de nào zhōng tiáo dào le wǔ diǎn, jiù xiǎng pí yí xià.
He set my alarm for five, just to be cheeky.
前面都很正经，最后一句皮了一下。
qián miàn dōu hěn zhèng jīng, zuì hòu yí jù pí le yí xià.
It’s all serious, then the last line is a joke.
别皮了，快写作业。
bié pí le, kuài xiě zuò yè.
Stop messing around and do your homework.

Where it came from

皮 for “naughty” comes from dialect. Sixth Tone traces it to the area around Shaanxi.

The phrase took off in game commentary and livestreams, according to the China News Service. Gamers used it for teasing moves, such as standing your character over a rival you just beat. From there it moved to Weibo, where it labeled funny posts with a surprise ending.

In December 2018 the national language monitoring center put 皮一下 ninth on its list of the internet words of the year.