Weibo Roundup for the Year of Rabbit
Don’t know Chinese? Don’t have Weibo? Feel like you're missing out on China’s popular phrases and funny photos? Don’t panic, we’ve got you covered for some of the finest from the Year of the Rabbit. Sina Weibo recently released their list of most popular slang phrases, emoticons and the most forwarded topics from 2011. While icons are self-explanatory and hot topics are internationally discussed, we thought the slang perhaps required some more examination. Although the Shanghaiist has done a good job explaining them all, we wanted to give you a little extra background on our favorite three:
1. unbearable 伤不起 (shangbuqi)
Originated from an article online complaining about learning French. Take a look – even if you don't read a word of Chinese, you can get a sense of the author's anger and despair from the sheer number of exclamation marks. 伤不起 appeared only once but as the article got more attention, the phrase became so popular that it overshadowed the article itself. You can read the article using Google Translate, but then again, why not ask your Chinese language partner to read it out to you? It’s a great conversation piece for language-learning. (What’s that? You’re learning French? Hmm, maybe you don’t want to click that link, then.)
2. isn't it 有木有 (youmuyou)
Appeared 15 times in the aforementioned article. Though the rhetorical phrase was popular long before 2011, the frustrated author’s use of repetition helped relaunch it as a catchphrase. It is also more powerful when combined with 伤不起.
3. The Ordinary, the Artistic and the Idiotic 普通青年，文艺青年，2B青年 (putong qingnian, yiwen qingnian, erbi qingnian)
A meme featuring the three types of youth in China, illustrated with photo comparisons. Someone clearly felt it was important that Chinese youth get categorized into one of these three types. That launched the three-photo-comparison heat wave on Weibo.
Though it started with Chinese youth, the term now apparently applies to everything from humans and dogs to paper. If you think these aren’t funny enough, maybe you can find images that better represent "the three youth." Feel free to show us in the comments section below.
In case you missed all the hot Weibo topics of 2011 and want a recap:
- Wenzhou train accident [you should know]
- Li Na wins the French Open [you should know]
- Weibo search for missing children [you should know]
- Japan earthquake [you know]
- Guo Mei Mei [do you want to know?]
- Steve Jobs [you know]
- Xie Na and Zhang Jie’s wedding [you probably don’t want to know]
- Guangzhou toddler incident [you know]
- Osama died [you should know]
- Bubu Jingxin (a popular Chinese TV drama) [you probably don’t want to know]
Hopefully all this helps you understand China a little better as we head into the Year of the Dragon. Or perhaps this makes you more confused? Either way, you no longer have to wonder what your fellow subway passengers are reading on their smartphones. Now you're not just another laowai. Nope, now you are in the know. If you want to strike up a conversation with the cute Chinese girl (or boy) next to you, just show them this blog and have a good laugh together.
Photo: Shanghaiist.com
