Mandarin Monday: Master Internet Slang With These Colloquial Chinese Substitutes
If you thought learning Chinese is already hard enough, the advent of the internet and the interconnectivity that it allows has spurred the sharing of slang, dialects, and colloquialisms on an unprecedented scale. That now means that whereas most of us were struggling just to get the basics right, now we're confronted with a whole barrage of substitute words and characters that have seeped into mainstream Mandarin.
As well as words from China's numerous dialects, we must now contend with substitute words and homonyms that play on how the corresponding character sounds. The purpose of doing this is usually for a cutesy effect (read: anyone who wants to be taken seriously may want to avoid), again with many of the substituted words playing off of accents from different parts of China.
The ubiquity of WeChat means that these tweaked spellings spread fast and it may no longer be adequate to learn standard Chinese if you want to read fluently, keep up with conversations, or simply impress your Chinese friends. Below we've compiled some of the most frequent examples that you're likely to see online.
妹纸 mèi zhǐ for 妹子 mèi zǐ
Literal translation: Sister paper
Actual meaning: Little sister
Example sentence: 你的妹纸好可爱！Nǐ de mèi zhǐ hǎo kě ài! Your little sister is so cute!
童鞋 tóngxié for 同学/同事 tóngshì
Literal translation: Child shoes
Actual meaning: Classmate
Example sentence: 童鞋们，今天大家吃什么？Tóngxiémén, jīntiān dàjiā chī shénme? Classmates! What are we eating today?
皂片 zàopiàn for 照片 zhàopiàn
Literal translation: Soap slice
Actual meaning: Photograph
Example sentence: 快点给我看看昨天我们的皂片。Kuài diǎn gěi wǒ kàn kàn zuótiān wǒmen de zào piàn. Quickly, show me the photos we took yesterday.
涨姿势 zhǎngzīshì for 长知识 for zhǎngzhīshí
Literal translation: Increase pose
Actual meaning: Increase knowledge
Example sentence: 北京居然是太原的旧称，真是涨知识了！Běijīng jūrán shì tàiyuán de jiùchēng, zhēnshi zhǎng zhīshìle! Beijing is actually the old name of Taiyuan – I learned something new!
美腻 měinì for 美丽 měilì
Literal translation: Beautiful sick
Actual meaning: Beautiful
Example sentence: 快看，那个小姐姐好美腻！Kuài kàn, nàge xiǎo jiějiě hǎo měinì! Look, this lady is so beautiful!
镁铝 měilǚ for 美女 měinǚ
Literal translation: Magnesium aluminum
Actual meaning: Beautiful girl
Example sentence: 镁铝，今晚要不要出去喝一杯啊？Měi lǚ, jīn wǎn yào bùyào chūqù hè yībēi a? Beautiful, would you like to go out for a drink tonight?
漂酿 Piàoniàng for 漂亮 Piàoliang
Literal translation: Floating brew
Acutal meaning: Pretty
Example sentence: 你穿这条新裙子好漂酿！Nǐ chuān zhè tiáo xīn qúnzi hǎo piào niàng! You look gorgeous in this new skirt!
帅锅 shuàiguō for 帅哥 shuàigē
Literal translation: Handsome pan
Actual meaning: Handsome boy
Example sentence: 嘿帅锅，过来一下！Hēi suài guō, guòlái yīxià! Handsome, come here for a second!
盆友 pényǒu for 朋友 péngyǒu
Literal translation: Pot friend
Acutal meaning: Friend
Example sentence: 大家都是盆友嘛，不要这么小气！ Dàjiā dōu shì pén yǒu ma, bùyào zhème xiǎoqì! We’re all friends at the end of the day, don’t be so cheap!
蟹蟹 xièxiè for 谢谢 xièxiè
Literal translation: Crab crab
Actual meaning: Thank you
Example sentence: 你又给我送吃的来了，蟹蟹哦！Xiè xiè yòu gěi wǒ sòng chī de láile! Thank you for sending me food again!
肿么了 zhǒngme le for 怎么了 zěnme le
Literal translation: What is swollen?
Actual meaning: What’s wrong?
Example sentence: 你看起来不是很开心啊，肿么了？Nǐ kàn qǐlái bu shì hěn kāixīn a, zhǒng meliǎo? You don’t look very happy, what’s wrong?
坏银 huàiyín for 坏人 huàirén
Literal translation: Bad silver
Actual meaning: Bad person
Example sentence: 这么好玩的活动你居然没叫上我，真是个坏银！Zhème hǎowán de huódòng nǐ jūrán méi jiào shàng wǒ, zhēnshi gè huài yín! It's such a fun event. Can't believe I didn't even get invited, you really are a bad person!
吃藕 chīǒu for 丑 chǒu
Literal translation: Eat lotus root
Actual meaning: Ugly
Example sentence: 我不要在照相的时候做这个表情了，太吃藕了。Wǒ bùyào zài zhàoxiàng de shíhòu zuò zhège biǎoqíngle, tài chī ǒule. I’ll never make that face again in photos, it’s so ugly.
北鼻 běibí for baby
Literal translation: North nose
Actual meaning: Baby
Example sentence: 北鼻，你可以陪我去逛超市吗? Běi bí, nǐ kěyǐ péi wǒ qù guàng chāoshì ma？Baby, can you come with me to the supermarket?
READ: Conquer These 10 Lesser-Known but Easily Written Chinese Characters
Photo: Unsplash
