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Nearly 12 million Chinese students sat the national college entrance exams, or gāokǎo 高考, in China this week.
With the added stress of Covid and lockdowns, this year's university hopefuls face even greater challenges than normal. So need all the luck they can get.
Cooking certain meals the night before, or saying certain things on the day, are all important final superstitious touches (36Kr) to bring that extra bit of luck:
第一天穿红色，讨个“开门鸿运到”的彩头；
第二天穿紫色，答的题“紫腚都对”；
第三天穿黄色内裤，还会附赠灰色袜子一双，寓意金榜题名走向辉煌。
On Day 1 wear red, to kick off with a lucky start
On Day 2 wear purple, because purple buttocks are always correct
On Day 3 wear golden underpants and grey socks, which will bring glory of getting top marks
We also explore discussions on social media about the gaokao in response to this confusing comment by Weibo blogger @陈昊然 which is also supposed to bring good luck to this year’s gaokao students:
点赞全考985！评论全考211
If you like my post, you’ll be admitted into a 985 school. If you leave a comment below, you’ll get into a 211 school.
985 and 211 is a slang way to say top universities in China, which we discussed in May last year:
Project 985 or 985工程 jiǔ bā wǔ gōng chéng, was a programme to grow China’s elite universities announced at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998. The name derives from the date of the announcement - May 1998, or 98/5.
Project 211, or 211工程 èr yāo yāo gōng chéng, was initiated in 1995 by the Ministry of Education of China with the intent of raising the research standards of high-level universities and cultivating strategies for socio-economic development. The name for the project comes from an abbreviation of the slogan 面向21世纪，办好100所高校 - one hundred universities for the 21st century.
So in this week’s newsletter we learn how to make sense of some lucky sayings, slang words and other superstitions that people have been talking about this week.
Enjoy!
Favourite five
All of this week’s favourite words are either dialect words, or slang words that have come into use in the last five years. If you haven’t been to China for a few years, I can guarantee some or all of these will be new to you!
1. 锦鲤 jǐn lǐ
koi carp; lucky charm or good luck
考试前他们是给学子保驾护航的锦鲤 - They can bring luck to students before they take their exams.
Note: Internet slang word which first came into use in 2013 but became mainstream in 2018 when it was linked to an advertising campaign by Taobao.
2. 二臂 èr bì
two arms; you idiot
我985 211是点赞得来的这不是二臂吗 - So liking this comment can get me into a top university? Is this comment not really stupid?
Note: originally from the Chinese online swear word 二逼 èr bī, also written as ‘2b’; èr bì has become a popular way to have a good humoured go at people on TikTok in China. It’s come into more mainstream use online in recent months.
3. 搬砖 bān zhuān
dead end job
点赞全上带专，评论全去搬砖 - Those that are giving the thumbs-up are going to vocational school and will have great success, while those leaving comments will end up with dead-end jobs.
Note: 带专 dài zhuān here means vocational school, and is a homophone with 大专 dà zhuān - vocational college. dà zhuān is also Internet slang which has a similar meaning to 人上人 rén shàng rén ‘ superhuman’ which we first discussed in March last year. The reference here is those who go to vocational college will end up being much better off than (and potentially the bosses of) those in dead-end jobs.
4. 紫腚能行 zǐ dìng néng xíng
purple buttocks can do it; you can do it!
尤其在东北人的“紫腚能行”面前，别说高考作文，就没什么“过不去”的考试 - With the north eastern phrase, ‘purple buttocks can do it’, there is no gaokao test that you can’t pass.
5. 掂过碌蔗 diān guò lù zhè
very successful
在广东，送考队人手一根挂着香蕉的甘蔗，寓意“今朝掂过碌蔗”（今天一切顺利）- In Guangdong, students take a banana and a sugar cane with them to the exam hall for good luck. In Cantonese this means ‘today you are going to do really well’.
Note: the Cantonese idiom means ‘there is nothing straigther than a sugar cane’. Which is a metaphor for doing really well - 非常顺利 in Chinese.
Consuming the conversation
Going deep into the online conversations about this year’s gaokao, this week’s words of the week are tied together by working hard, good luck, bad luck and a sprinkling of puns with Chinese characteristics.
There are also a number of ‘classic’ gaokao idioms with a modern twist.
Useful words
鸿运 hóng yùn
good fortune
第一天穿红色，讨个“开门鸿运到”的彩头 - On the first day you wear something red to bring good luck at the start.
Note: a play on words from the phrase kāi mén hóng 开门红 get off to a good start.
神器 shén qì
objects that works wonders; lucky charm
形形色色的助考神器，直接让考试季带动GDP - Sales of all sorts of lucky charms in exams drive economic growth during the exam season.
忐忑 tǎn tè
nervous
全国上下的考生，都在效仿东北孩子，穿紫色内裤忐忑地走进考场 - Students across China are imitating those from the north east by wearing purple underpants as they nervously enter the exam halls.
晦气 huì qì
unlucky
本高考生看见你觉得晦气极了 - When I, as gaokao student about to take the exams, see you, I think that you bring me lots of bad luck.
殷切 yīn qiè
ardent, firm
小时候，期末考试那天再匆忙，也要在妈妈殷切的目光注视下吃完两个鸡蛋，再配一根油条，盼望可以考到100分 - When I was young, no matter how busy I was on the day of the final exam, I had to eat two eggs and one deep fried dough stick in the morning before I left, under the watchful eye of my mother to bring me good luck and hopefully get 100%.
没戏 méi xì
no play; no way
这个时候能给你点赞的高考生基本上没戏 - At this time, any gaokao students that have time to like your post on social media are basically not going to pass their exams.
Idioms
死皮赖脸 sǐ pí lài liǎn
thick skinned without any shame
后来开考前，死皮赖脸借一根写字好的同学用过的笔，坚信自己的字也会变得好看，起码卷面分有加成 - Just before the exam started, I would shamelessly borrow a pen used by a classmate who has better writing than me, in the belief that it will make my writing look better and bring a few extra points.
