主打一个zhǔ dǎ yí gè

The whole point is …

zhǔ dǎ yí gè kāi xīn.主打一个开心。It’s all about having fun.

主打一个 plus a word means “the whole point is …” or “it’s all about …”. You use it to name the one thing that matters about a person, a thing or a plan, often as a joke.

Took off: 2023
Started in: Douyin
Today: Now everyday Chinese

What it means

主打 is a marketing word. 主打产品 is a flagship product, and 主打歌 is the lead song on an album. The meme puts 主打一个 before anything at all: 主打一个便宜, “it’s all about the low price”.

The joke is that the “main feature” is often small or lazy. A student who goes to class but does not listen says the point is the company.

The longer form is 主打的就是一个, with the same meaning.

How people use it

It is now everyday chat Chinese. It works for yourself, a friend, a restaurant or a product: 主打一个方便, “it’s all about convenience”.

琦琦

你周末去露营了？
nǐ zhōu mò qù lù yíng le?
You went camping this weekend?
去了，没怎么动，主打一个吃
qù le, méi zěn me dòng, zhǔ dǎ yí gè chī
Yeah. Barely moved. The whole point was eating.
吃了什么？
chī le shén me?
What did you eat?
烤肉、火锅，还有西瓜
kǎo ròu, huǒ guō, hái yǒu xī guā
Barbecue, hot pot and watermelon.

More examples

这家店不贵，主打一个便宜。
zhè jiā diàn bú guì, zhǔ dǎ yí gè pián yi.
This place isn’t expensive. It’s all about the low price.
周末不出门，主打一个躺。
zhōu mò bù chū mén, zhǔ dǎ yí gè tǎng.
No going out this weekend. The plan is to lie down.
我去健身房主打一个拍照。
wǒ qù jiàn shēn fáng zhǔ dǎ yí gè pāi zhào.
At the gym, I’m mostly there to take photos.

Where it came from

The pattern spread on Douyin in the first half of 2023. According to The World of Chinese, it started with fans who said they would stand by their idol and expect nothing back: 主打的就是一个陪伴, “the whole point is to be there”.

Students and office workers then turned the line into a joke about doing the minimum. In December 2023 the national language monitoring center put 主打一个×× on its list of the ten top internet phrases of the year.

The original. There is no single image. Posts and short videos add the line to scenes of doing the minimum, such as sitting in class without a book. The World of Chinese wrote about the trend in June 2023. The World of Chinese