Mandarin Monday: What’s With All the Sheep Memes? A Look at Covid Slang
More than three years since Covid first emerged, it seems like the virus is changing the way people speak. As Covid restrictions have eased in China, Chinese netizens have recently invented a new form of “corona talk” to describe how it feels to deal with Covid. In case you are one of those browsing the Chinese internet and struggling to figure out what Chinese netizens are saying, you might find this guide helpful to understand some trendy Covid slang.
First up, it's worth mentioning that Covid's Chinese name, 新型冠状病毒肺炎 xīnxíng guānzhuàng bìngdú fèiyán, which identifies it as a peumonia-causing disease, has been changed to 新型冠状病毒感染 xīnxíng guānzhuàng bìngdú gǎnrǎn, which is simply an infectious virus, to reflect the mutation. So the next time someone is trying to say, “我得了新冠肺炎 wǒ déle xīnguān fèiyán (I have Covid),” remember to correct them and say, “No, it should be 新冠病毒 xīnguān bìngdú in Chinese.”
Another interesting note is that the pronunciation of the Chinese character 阳 yáng, which means “positive,” has the same pronunciation as 羊 yáng, which means “sheep” in Chinese. This has led to Chinese netizens substituting “positive” 阳 yáng for “sheep” 羊 yáng, or sometimes just replacing it with a sheep emoji. So if you've been confused about why people have been sharing posts about sheep recently, that's why!
Now, what is some Chinese Covid slang that has gone viral recently?
阳过 yángguò – This term refers to people who have already had Covid.
阳康 yángkāng – People who have recovered from Covid.
王重阳 wángchóngyáng – People who have been infected with Covid two or more times.
阳不悔 yángbùhuǐ – People who have had Covid but have no regrets about getting it.
阳铁心 yángtiěxīn – People who are determined to keep their Covid test results positive.
阳顶天 yángdǐngtiān – People who caught Covid on a flight.
阳继业 yángjìyè – A person who caught Covid from their father.
欧阳锋 ōuyángfēng – People who suffered a mental breakdown due to testing positive for Covid.
九阳真经 jiǔyáng zhēnjīng – The ability to no longer fear any virus after the nucleic acid test results have been positive for nine days in a row.
九阴阴经 jiǔyīn yīnjīng – The ability to be able to test negative even if the people around you have all gotten Covid.
牧羊人 mùyángrén – The only person in a family who is not infected with Covid. Usually they will be responsible for cooking and taking care of the other family members who are sick with Covid.
喜羊羊 xǐyángyáng – People who have Covid but are asymptomatic.
暖羊羊 nuǎnyángyáng – People who have a persistent slight fever after being infected with Covid.
沸羊羊 fèiyángyáng – People who have a high fever after getting Covid.
慢羊羊 mànyángyáng – People whose Covid test results have not turned negative after many days of getting Covid.
Read: Mandarin Monday: the Sun, the Moon, and Your Covid Test Result
Images: Unsplash
