What is the Chinese internet talking about?
ChineseBuzz explains the latest Chinese slang, memes and pop-culture trends in plain English — with pinyin, example sentences and the cultural story behind each term. 38 terms and growing.
Latest terms
Slang刀子dāozi
In fan and ACG culture, a scene in a story that is so sad, cruel, or heartbreaking that the audience feels stabbed; 发刀子 means the author deliberately wrote such a scene.
Slang抓马zhuā mǎ
A phonetic loanword of the English word 'drama': describing a person, situation, or whole day that feels excessively dramatic, over the top, or full of melodramatic conflict.
SlangAI全民制作人AI quán mín zhì zuò rén
A trending term on platforms like Bilibili, referring to ordinary individuals widely participating in image, music, and derivative content production using artificial intelligence tools.
Phrases纯路人chún lù rén
A supposedly neutral outsider in a fandom or online debate, often used ironically when the speaker clearly has an opinion.
Slang爆改bào gǎi
A dramatic, high-contrast transformation of a person, room, product, or idea, usually made for social-media impact.
Slang逆天nì tiān
A flexible internet adjective for something outrageously absurd, extreme, or unbelievably impressive.
Culture梦核mèng hé
A Chinese name for dreamcore: a surreal internet aesthetic built from dreamlike, nostalgic, uncanny images, videos, and music.
Slang抽象chōu xiàng
A Chinese internet label for absurd, anti-logical, surreal humor or behavior that is funny because it makes little conventional sense.