Our favourite words of 2023
Our favourite words of 2023
China in 2023 in 23 words and phrases
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It’s an annual tradition in this newsletter to wrap up the year with a collection of favourite phrases from the previous 12 months.
This year we've followed some of the biggest stories in China, how they were discussed, and the language used and sometimes invented, to describe them.
Clear themes have emerged, which tell the story of China in the last 12 months, and hint at what may come in 2024.
Corruption and abuse of power.
"Hurricane" 狂飙 has come into common use this year. Originally the title of the successful TV series, The Knockout 狂飙, first aired in January 2023, it's now widely used to describe China’s anti-corruption campaign.
High profile "hurricane" cases in 2023 include the fall of Chén Xūyuán 陈戌源, the head of China's Football Association; and the demise of former Olympic table tennis champion, Zhāng Jìkē 张继科, who was caught up in a gambling scandal.
"Flaunting wealth" 炫富, and privilege, was also a common theme.
Property sector crisis.
"Rotten tail buildings" 烂尾楼 are property developments which hopeful homeowners have paid for "off plan", but never get completed.
"Stepping on landmines" 踩雷 describes their experience, a euphemism for being caught up in a financial scam, and losing money.
A new idiom, "passing your debts onto the next generation" 愚公还贷, was invented ridiculing a mortgage product allowing elderly parents to take out mortgages on behalf of their kids.
Education woes.
"Shanhe University" 山河大学 articulated the angst of high school graduates in Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei, who face stiff competition from millions of other university hopefuls, but have very few top universities in their provinces.
In Xi'an, "returning students" 回流生 took advantage of policy loopholes encouraging young families from neighbouring provinces to move there, taking spots in high schools, at the expense of local kids.
And “Kong Yiji literature” 孔乙己文学 defined how university graduates feel when entering the job market, their degree no longer valued in the working world.
Business ups and downs.
The ongoing crisis at the world’s most indebted property company, Evergrande 恒大集团, and the collapse of China's biggest asset manager, ZEG, were closely linked to the mess in the property sector, and "rotten tail buildings."
"Exploding thunder" 暴雷 is how the financial irregularities in these companies is described.
It wasn't all bad news for business in 2023, though.
Luckin Coffee’s "rebirth through baptism by fire" 浴火重生 saw it become China's largest coffee chain, overtaking Starbucks. And "coffee in the morning and alcohol at night" 早C晚A, a phrase borrowed from the beauty product world, was one of the hottest buzzwords of the year following the launch of the Luckin - Moutai latte in the summer.
Online influencers, and their business empires, also had a mixed year.
Austin Li 李佳琦 found himself in hot water with his fans with the new meme, "Austin Li is out of touch" 哪李贵了, whereas Dong Yuhui 董宇辉 got a promotion - and his CEO sacked - with the support of his fans.
Geopolitical tensions.
The "Wandering Balloon" 流浪气球, a Chinese spy balloon which strayed into US airspace, was a play on words of a popular sci-fi movie, Wandering Earth 流浪地球, which also hit cinema screens this year.
It led to US-China relations plumbing all time lows for much of 2023.
"Panic buying salt" 抢盐 was the fallout of another major geopolitical spat this year, with Japan, following the controversial release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in September.
Distrust of government, police, and media.
"The truth is revealed" 水落石出 captured the sentiment of the public pleading for the truth in the case of a missing teenage student in February.
And the arrival of "agricultural management officers" 农管, a new kind of police officer in the countryside, didn't go down well.
And finally, the official phrase of the year is…
"Calling a rat a duck" 指鼠为鸭 is my favourite of 2023.
It was coined following a food safety scandal at a college canteen when a student found a rat's head in his soup. The college, local police, and government insisted it was a duck's neck.
The new phrase is now widely used to express a distrust of the authorities.
Now let’s dig in to the rest of our favourite 23 phrases which tell the story of China in 2023.
There’s even more our in member-only post, which includes a 25-minute podcast which goes into these phrases in more detail!
Favourite Five
1. Hit by a financial scam
踩雷 cǎi léi
还想追求远超市场平均水平的回报率，踩雷几乎就成为大概率事件 - If investors still want to pursue returns far beyond the market average, getting into trouble is highly probable.
Background:
ZEG, China’s largest asset manager announced it was on the verge of bankruptcy in December. Hundreds of thousands of wealthy families in China lost their investments.
More:
Another corporate mess was the Evergrande debt crisis, which continued to roll on through much of this year.
Related:
暴雷 bào léi - experience a financial crisis
被坑 bèi kēng - to be cheated
2. Pointing at a rat but calling it a duck
指鼠为鸭 zhǐ shǔ wéi yā
古有“指鹿为马”，今有“指鼠为鸭” - In ancient times, a deer was called a horse, while today a rat is called a duck.
Background:
A student in a college canteen in Jiangxi found a rat head in his soup. The canteen staff, the university leadership, and the police, insisted it was a duck's neck.
The original idiom, "to call a deer a horse" 指鹿为马, has been around for 2,300 years, and recalls the story of an emperor who is fooled by his prime minister into thinking the gift of a deer was actually a horse.
This new phrase criticises the authorities for not accepting the facts of a situation.
More:
The phrase came up again in September around a controversy of ready-made meals in schools 预制菜.
Another variation of this idiom, "pointing at a deer and calling it a tiger" 指鹿为虎 went viral in February with the spy balloon incident.
The lyrics of a song released in August, Land of the Rakshasas and the Sea Market 罗刹海市 by Dao Lang, is also becoming a coded expression for “distorting the facts,” 罗刹国 - “the land where the facts are distorted”.
3. Passing debts onto the next generation
愚公还贷 yú gōng huán dài
以前愚公移山子孙无穷尽也，现在愚公还贷，子孙无穷尽也 - In the past, the Old Fool moved mountains to secure a better life for his descendants. But now he repays the loan while he is alive, and passes the debt onto his next generation after his death.
Background:
Some banks extended the upper age limit on mortgages to 80 and even 90 years old. Internet users invented idiomatic puns criticising the policy, playing on the character for "debt" (贷 dài), pronounced the same as the word for "generation" (代 dài).
Related:
传宗接贷 chuán zōng jiē dài - passing debts from generation to generation
千秋万贷 qiān qiū wàn dài - indebted for generations
4. Shanhe University
山河大学 shān hé dà xué
横空出世的“山河大学”，什么来头 - Out of the blue came Shanhe University - what is it all about?
Background:
A fictional university, which began as an online joke, became a viral sensation in July. Shanhe University captured the sentiments of millions of students in the four provinces of Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, and Hebei.
More:
Another education scandal in Xi'an happened around the same time when “returning students” 回流生 from neighbouring provinces took registration spots from local kids.
“Crispy college students” 脆皮大学生 was another viral meme and trend which took off in October.
And “Kong Yiji Literatur” 孔乙己文学 was one of our top buzzwords of the year)
5. Austin Li is out of touch
哪李贵了 nǎ lǐ guì le
坊间因此出现一个新词“哪李贵了”，挖苦他不知民间疾苦的傲慢；在微博上有一条评论超过50万人点赞：“你挣着普通人的钱，到头来嘲讽普通人贫穷” - As a result, a new meme “How is that expensive!?” appeared, mocking Li’s arrogance for not knowing the sufferings of the people. One comment on Weibo received over 500,000 likes: "You make money from ordinary people, but then you mock them for being poor. "
Background:
Lǐ Jiāqí 李佳琦, China’s “Lipstick King”, faced a backlash after he criticised a viewer for complaining about the 79 yuan price tag of an eyebrow pencil. The meme also describes celebrities who are out of touch with what life is like for the majority of people in China.
More:
Chinese idol and pop singer Cài Xúkūn 蔡徐坤 faced reputation collapse, or 塌房, amid allegations that he forced a young woman to have an abortion in 2021.
And Lǐ Hàoshí 李昊石, a Chinese comedian was cancelled 社死 after causing online uproar in May.
Related:
骆驼祥子 luò tuó xiáng zi - Rickshaw Boy, the title of Lao She’s novel, and a metaphor for being hardworking, young and poor in China today.
何不食肉糜 hé bù shí ròu mí - Why not eat meat? The Chinese equivalent of “Let them eat cake”, meaning “out of touch.”
Consuming the Conversations
Useful words
6. Knockout
狂飙 kuáng biāo
现实往往比剧本更精彩，足球版狂飙已经横空出世 - Real life is often more exciting that TV dramas. The anti-corruption hurricane has swept through the football world.
Background:
Former Olympic athlete-turned-entertainer Zhāng Jìkē 张继科 was dropped by major brands in March, after being accused of sharing intimate videos of his former girlfriend, Jǐng Tián 景甜, with a loan shark to pay off his gambling debts.
The phrase "hurricane" 狂飙, a reference to the TV series The Knockout 狂飙, is now widely used to describe anti-corruption activity.
More:
Another high profile corruption scandal followed a senior exec in Sinpec who was spotted with his mistress shopping in Chengdu. The scandal, known as “Hand Holding Gate” 牵手门, dominated social media discussions in June.
And the head of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) was arrested for corruption in February.
7. Flaunting wealth
炫富 xuàn fù
她在澳大利亚读书，但她很少晒读书的画面，大部分时间在炫富 - She is studying in Australia, but she rarely posts pictures of her studying. Most of the time she shows off her wealth.
Background:
Internet user, Arctic Catfish 北极鲶鱼 caused controversy in April for showing off her wealth and sharing offensive posts online. The third generation of a government official 官三代 lives and studies in Australia, sharing images online of her extravagant lifestyle.
Her grandfather has since been stripped of his CCP membership, and the illegal gains confiscated.
8. Agricultural law enforcement administrators
农管 nóng guǎn
全中国的人们正在目睹农管公开扩权的初始阶段 - People all over China are witnessing the initial stages of the public expansion of agricultural management.
Background:
China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the formation of a new department. Public response was mostly negative, nicknaming the new officers as nóngguǎn 农管, a play on the phrase "urban-management officers", or chéngguǎn 城管, who are among China’s most despised law enforcers.
9. Panic buying salt
抢盐 qiǎng yán
在这些反应中，“抢盐”成为最受关注的话题，霸占了多条热搜 - Among these reactions, "panic buying salt" has become the most discussed topic, occupying multiple trending searches.
Background:
Consumers fiercely objected to the release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in September.
A wave of “Panic buying salt” 抢盐 followed, reminiscent of the panic buying when the nuclear disaster happened in 2011.
Three-character phrases
10. Unfinished building
烂尾楼 làn wěi lóu
烂尾楼不管，房贷挺会想办法 - They do nothing about developers of unfinished housing projects. But they do everything to encourage people to take out mortgages.
Background:
A young couple in Zhengzhou became the focus of media attention in November in their battle with a real estate developer who has yet to finish building the apartment they had paid for.
More:
The collapse of ZEG was also linked to unfinished buildings.
And in Harbin, over 240 families living in a 31-story building were urgently evacuated from their homes in May following illegal “aggressive refurbishment” 暴力改造 in their building, another common issue in China’s property market.
12. Civil service exam fervour
考公热 kǎo gōng rè
值得注意的一点是，“考研热”降温的同时，“考公热”却在升温 - It's worth noting that while the enthusiasm for postgraduate exams is cooling down, there is a rising fervour for civil service examinations.
Background:
Interest in getting a job in the public sector led to "public examination fervour".
The number of people accepted into the national civil servant examination exceeded 3 million this year for the first time.
13. All Memes Festival
万梗节 wàn gěng jié
创意之丰富、网络梗之密集，直接让这个万圣节被称为了“万梗节” - With rich creativity and a dense display of internet memes, this Halloween has directly earned the name "All Memes Festival".
Background:
One of the biggest social media highlights of the year was the celebration of Halloween in Shanghai and other cities across China. Young people poked fun at the authorities, celebrities, government policies, the education system, and toxic working culture in Chinese companies through creative cosplay.
14. Pocket crime
口袋罪 kǒu dài zuì
如果实行的话，则可能是典型的“口袋罪” - If implemented, it could potentially be a classic "pocket crime".
Background:
A draft amendment to China’s Public Security Administration Punishments Law published in September called for the punishment of "wearing in public places clothes and accessories that are detrimental to the spirit of the Chinese nation, and hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation.”
15. Bluffing it
糊弄学 hù nong xué
糊弄学的一种，“能冷食绝不开火，能整食绝不切开”的“白人饭”火了 - “White people's food” became the latest art of bluffing, which humorously describes the preference for cold meals and as little prep as possible.
Background:
Unemployment among urban Chinese aged 16 to 24 is over 20%, with 70% of them being university graduates. This malaise felt by many young people was expressed in new phrases which have emerged, such as "bluffing it" as a way to just get by.
Related:
白人饭 bái rén fàn - white people's food
躺平 tǎng píng - lying flat
Idioms
16. Far-fetched
牵强附会 qiān qiǎng fù huì
“强国交通”牵强附会 - Is the Strong Nation Transport App trying to scam the public with its official-sounding name?
Background:
The Strong Nation Transport app 强国交通 was launched in February appearing to have government support. Reports in other Chinese media outlets claimed it was a scam.
17. The truth is revealed
水落石出 shuǐ luò shí chū
若有可靠线索，不妨提供给警方，助力胡鑫宇事件走向水落石出 - If you have reliable clues, it’s best to provide them to the police to help find the truth in the Hu Xinyu case.
Background:
The body of a missing teenage boy was found in a woodland in Jiangxi province in February. Hú Xīnyǔ 胡鑫宇, 15, had vanished from his school dormitory more than 100 days before. There was strong criticism of how the police handled the case.
18. Futile
蚍蜉撼树 pí fú hàn shù
蚍蜉撼树，普通人还是放弃吧 - This is as futile as an ant trying to shake the tree. Ordinary people like us should just give up.
Background:
“Like and ant pushing a tree”, in other words, “futile”, is how the plight of a young couple of Zhengzhou was described battling a real estate developer to complete their unbuilt home.
Related:
给我一个胶带 gěi wǒ yí ge jiāo dài - you will never shut me up!
胳膊拧不过大腿 gē bo nǐng bú guò dà tuǐ - the arm cannot twist the thigh
19. The other shoe drops
靴子落地 xuē zi luò dì
中国互联网产业或许将在蚂蚁靴子落地后，迎来新的发展机会 - Perhaps the Chinese internet industry will usher in new development opportunities after the moment of truth for Ant Group.
Background:
Ant Group was fined 7.12 billion yuan, ending a years-long regulatory overhaul of the company.
It was inevitable and will now finally allow the firm to move forward.
20. Catastrophic disaster
灭顶之灾 miè dǐng zhī zāi
洪水过境，两岸数十个村落遭遇灭顶之灾 - As the flood swept through, dozens of villages on both sides encountered a catastrophic disaster.
Background:
Typhoon Doksuri hit Mainland China in August, bringing the country’s worst rains in 140 years.
Beijing and surrounding areas in Tianjin and Hebei experienced some of the most severe floods on record. Zhuōzhōu 涿州, southwest of Beijing, in neighbouring Hebei Province, was one of the worst hit areas.
21. Rebirth through baptism by fire
浴火重生 yù huǒ chóng shēng
2022年11月，就连曾经做空瑞幸的幕后推手雪湖资本，也成了这家公司的股东，其创始人马自铭称，“瑞幸咖啡的浴火重生是中国商业史上的一个奇迹” - Snowlake Finance, who even shorted Luckin Coffee in November 2022, has become a shareholder in the business again. Its founder, Ma Ziming said: “Luckin Coffee’s rising from the flames is a miracle in the history of Chinese companies.”
Background:
China's largest domestic coffee chain, Luckin Coffee, overtook Starbucks in domestic sales in China.
More:
Two more major business story of 2023 were how newcomers "captured cities and seize territory" 攻城略地 from incumbent platforms, Alibaba and JD, during Double 11 shopping festival; and the success of China's EV companies going global, known as the "new forces" 造车新势力.
Phrases
21. Coffee in the morning, alcohol in the evening
早C晚A zǎo C wǎn A
咖啡经济与微醺经济迅猛发展的当下，“早C晚A”成为一种生活方式代名词 - With the rapid development of the coffee economy and the drinking economy, "taking C in the morning and A at night" has become a lifestyle choice.
Background:
Kweichow Moutai 贵州茅台 and Luckin Coffee 瑞幸咖啡 partnered to co-create a new flavour of coffee in September.
More:
China’s “coffee craze” 咖啡热 was one of the big consumer trends in 2023. Milk tea in bamboo and Zibo BBQ 淄博烧烤 also went viral on social media.
22. External foreign forces
境外势力 jìng wài shì lì
在医院多次举报投诉潘柏林“毒害国家青少年”，怀疑他“有境外势力渗透” - Pan Bailin was reported and received complaints many times for “poisoning the nation’s youth”, and was suspected of being "infiltrated by foreign forces".
Background:
“Influenced by foreign ideas” was how some talked about patients in a trangender clinic in Beijing that was closed down in March this year.
It was a common phrase in anti-zero covid protests last November.
23. Lived in frustration, died in vain
活得郁闷，死得憋屈 huó de yù men, sǐ de biē qū
“活得郁闷，死得憋屈，”一位中国记者告诉我。“我们不都这样吗？” - "Live in frustration, die in vain," a Chinese journalist told me. "Aren't we all like this?"
Background:
This elegiac couplet 挽联 went viral on Twitter after the death of former Premier, Li Keqiang, in November shared by Wú Guóguāng 吴国光, a senior research scholar at Stanford University.
More:
Ironically, this was the last Phrase of the Week for The China Project, which also died an untimely death in November this year.
But POTW lives on and we still publish every week on our own site!
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