已老实，求放过yǐ lǎo shi, qiú fàng guò

I’ll behave now, please let me go

yǐ lǎo shi, qiú fàng guò.已老实，求放过。I’ll behave. Please let me go.

已老实，求放过 means “I’ll behave now, please let me go”. You say it as a mock surrender when a test, a bill or plain bad luck has beaten you.

Took off: 2024
Started in: Online jokes about prices
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

老实 means “honest” or “well-behaved”. 已老实 is short for 我已经老实了, “I am behaving now”, the line of a child who has just been told off. 求放过 means “please let me go”.

Together they make a surrender that is half a joke. You lost, you admit it, and you ask life to stop. The second half can change: 已老实，求降价 is “I’ll behave, please lower the price”.

How people use it

Use it about yourself and about small defeats: an exam, a workout, a price rise, a long day. It is a joke, so it does not work as a real apology to someone you have hurt.

亮亮

今天去健身房吗？
jīn tiān qù jiàn shēn fáng ma?
Gym today?
昨天练了腿，现在下楼都疼
zuó tiān liàn le tuǐ, xiàn zài xià lóu dōu téng
I did legs yesterday. Now even the stairs hurt.
那今天再练一次？
nà jīn tiān zài liàn yí cì?
So, another round today?
已老实，求放过
yǐ lǎo shi, qiú fàng guò
I’ve learned my lesson. Please spare me.

More examples

考试太难了，已老实，求放过。
kǎo shì tài nán le, yǐ lǎo shi, qiú fàng guò.
The exam was too hard. I give up, please let me go.
跑了五公里，已老实。
pǎo le wǔ gōng lǐ, yǐ lǎo shi.
I ran five kilometers. Lesson learned.

Where it came from

Sources do not agree on where it started. HRloo, a careers site, wrote in August 2024 that it began with jokes about a cheap drink that suddenly cost more. People wrote 已老实，求降价, and the phrase later became 已老实，求放过 and spread as a sticker caption. A November 2024 page from Hebei Normal University tells the same story.

A November 2024 article on China University Students Online traces it to an earlier joke about food delivery: add the on-time guarantee to your order, and you will behave. None of these sources gives a first date.