【Learn Chinese】Chinese Internet Slang (Part 1)

As you may expect, the internet has been a fertile breeding ground for the creative use of language. Internet slang in Chinese is 网络语言 (wăng luò yŭ yán).
Here’s just a small selection of some of the most common words and expressions you’re likely to see.

囧 jiŏng (Awkward, Embarrassed)
This old and rarely used character has been repurposed by Chinese netizens to mean “awkward” or “embarrassed” – because it looks like someone with that kind of expression on their face. It isn’t used in spoken Chinese. Originally, this character meant “window”.

88 (Bye Bye)
The internet version of “bye bye” – because 八八 bābā (‘88’) sounds a bit like 拜拜 bāibāi!

3Q (Thankyou)
Because 三Q (sān Q) sounds like “thankyou”!

250 èrbăiwŭ (Stupid person, idiot)
The same as 二逼 èrbī that we saw in a different article. You can also use this when speaking normally.

赞 zàn (To “like”)
This literally means “to praise” and is also now used for when you hit the “like” button.