China Online: Netspeak and Wordplay Used by over 700 Million Chinese Internet Users

By Veronique Michel, Claude Muller and Sebastien Koval

Dive into China's new internet subculture of tech-savvy, creative digital citizens with China Online! Using Baidu, China's version of Google, young Chinese internet users have invented their own form of digital language. With this book, you can get an insider's view of how the new generation of Chinese youth communicates in code. Author and translator Veronique Michel acts as your guide on a tour of the lifestyles of modern-day Internet groups, or "tribes," including:

• The "Moonlight" or "Starlight" Tribe

• The "Low Carbon Footprint" Tribe

• The "Ants"

• The "Corporate Insects"

• The "Diamond Bachelor"

China Online describes a youth culture in transition--using humor and creativity to survive in a hugely competitive environment. Michel describes how users enjoy puns, mix languages, and use ingenious "talking numbers" to say more things with fewer keystrokes and characters. There is a great deal that lies under the surface. Learn the secret lingo used by over half a billion young people in China, and be in the know!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Mar 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781462915187

Book preview

CHINA ONLINE

The Author

Véronique Michel is a true multilingual netizen. She has spent 25 years abroad (notably in Japan and China) and she obtained diplomas in Asian and European languages. Véronique Michel is a freelance translator and conference speaker on multiculturalism. Please contact the author at [e-mail] for any comments.

Contents

Introduction

PART 1

PORTRAITS

China’s Internet Boom

Young People in China Today

The Café Latte Tribe

The Moonlight or Starlight Tribe

The Rush-Rush Tribe

The Mortgage Slaves

The Returnees from Overseas

The Low Carbon Footprint Tribe

The Ants Tribe

The Strawberry Tribe

The Corporate Insects

The Crazy Jargon Tribe

The Luxury Tribe

The Otaku Tribe

The Couch Potato Tribe

The Thumb Tribe

The Flea Tribe

The Pressure Cooker Tribe

The Tuhao or the "No Class Nouveaux Riches"

Men

The Four Gentlemen and Modern-Day Men

The Diamond Bachelor

The Affordable Man

The Three Highs Man

The Three Lows Man

The Herbivore Man

The Phoenix Man

The Diligent Bull Man

The Perfect Man

The Poor Man

Women

The Historic Four Beauties and Modern-Day Women

The 3 No’s Woman

The Carnivore Woman

The Shengnu

The Dried-fish Woman

The Peacock Woman

The No-No Woman

The 37° Woman

The Perfect Woman

The DAMA

The Manly Woman

Modern-Day Couples

Cupid and the Three Preconditions

The Couple from Only-Child Families

The Half Candy Couple

The DINK Couple

The DINKWAD

The DINKEM

The DINS

The New DINKs

The DINK Exit Tribe

PART 2

WORD PLAY: HOW IT REVEALS TODAY’S CHINESE MIND

Chinese Characters and Matters of the Heart

Drawing Characters Creatively: Word-drawings on the Internet

Melodious Homophones

Twisted Meanings

From Common Expression to Advertising Slogan

Chinese Names for Foreign Companies

Magic Numbers, for Texting Addicts and Internet Users

Online Catchphrases

English Loanwords: Mixing Languages

Some Buzzwords in 2013 and 2014

Some Interesting Stories and a Taste of Chinese Humor

Websites & References

Photo Credits

Introduction

This book is a unique journey of discovery into the heart of contemporary China.

The first part sheds light on underground Chinese culture through a range of popular modern-day tribes that flourish on the Internet and reflect the diversification of Chinese society. The reader will discover the thousand-and-one ways leading to Gross Domestic Happiness, as well as the secret of having a harmonious married life.

The second part focuses on the official common language (普通话 pǔtōnghuà) and the ingredients of Chinese humor that create a sense of connectedness among its speakers. We will decode the melodious phonetic puns, the magical spelling of characters, the ingenious numbers that talk, and learn about the cultural intermingling of the Internet with the slang and catch phrases of over 700 million Chinese Web users . . . .

This first exploration has been compiled for the curious amateur, for students as well as experts, such as marketers and communications specialists seeking to understand a fast-evolving country.

Pronunciation Guide

Below are a few elements of pronunciation in pinyin to help the reader. The example most used in schoolbooks is ma. The accent on the pinyin word indicates the pronunciation of the different tones.

PART 1

PORTRAITS

China's Internet Boom

The economic development and reforms since the 1970s have transformed the face of China. There are no shortage of examples to illustrate these dramatic changes. At regional level, the considerable economic disparities have intensified the flow of migrant workers (民工 míngōng) from inland China to the coastal regions. The rise in living standards has led to the emergence of a middle class, which is now claiming its own identity. The government’s one child policy has reshaped the family structure, now defined with the number 421 (4 grandparents, 2 parents and 1 child), since traditional filial piety has resulted in young people having to support as many as 6 elders. Nevertheless, according to the new rule introduced in 2014 if, in a couple, either parent is an only child, they are now eligible to have two children of their own.

In this period of social transition, the Internet has triggered a multitude of neologisms to depict contemporary society. The creations of fertile imaginations, some terms are invented from nothing, while others are borrowed from abroad. With humor and a hint of irony, netizens (Internet users) classify individuals sharing common traits as part of tribes or clans (族 zú). These include examples such as the Mortgage Slaves, the Ants tribe, the Moonlight tribe . . . . The analogies are pertinent and people easily relate to them. Below the surface, these newly-created terms reveal trends that are shaking the foundations of Chinese society. The off-beat profiles that multiply on the Web show young people who are far more individualistic than their elders, women resisting pressures to marry, and young men free of convention. These virtual images echo a reality, which, while still marginal and essentially urban, is nevertheless very present.

YOUNG PEOPLE IN CHINA TODAY

When a woman is pregnant in China she is said to be happy (有喜 yǒuxǐ): every year more than 15 million babies are born.

To ensure that their baby will be healthy and intelligent, women eat sea fish and walnuts during their pregnancy, the latter because they resemble a human brain. Whether from custom or superstition, parents try to time the year of the birth to coincide with an auspicious sign of the Chinese zodiac. Dragons (龙 lóng) for instance, symbolize power, so the birth rate tends to increase in Dragon years.

In the same vein, a child’s first name is a kind of premonition reflecting the parents’ aspirations: grace, beauty, or elegance for girls; strength, perseverance, and success in the case of boys.

On the baby’s first birthday celebration, it is customary to