The latest buzzwords about life as a college student in China
The latest buzzwords about life as a college student in China
Unhealthy lifestyles... high pressures... and "crispy skin"
Welcome to RealTime Mandarin!
It’s a free weekly resource helping you learn contemporary Chinese in context, maintain and improve your Mandarin skills, and stay on top of the latest language trends in China.
Subscribe now to get the next newsletter in your inbox on Saturday.
Life can be hard as a college student in China.
According to a survey of 2,000 students conducted in 2023, the physical fitness and health of college students in China is getting worse every year.
Unhealthy lifestyles of young people is cited as a major cause for the downward trend, including long-term sleep deprivation, poor eating habits, and irregular schedules.
"Involuted competition" (内卷 nèi juǎn) among students means youngsters are pushed to their limits, causing some to give up, or "lie flat" (躺平 tǎng píng).
Many people find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of "striving without success" and "lying flat without contentment."
更多人陷入了“卷又卷不赢，躺又躺不平”的内耗怪圈。
Descriptors of the pressures of life for young people in China, “involution” and “lying flat” are buzzwords we discussed in this newsletter as they began trending in 2021 and 2022.
Now in 2023, a new buzzword has emerged.
“Crispy college students” (脆皮大学生 cuìpí dàxuéshēng) has been gaining popularity as a hashtag linked to stories shared by students online in recent weeks.
Originally from the gaming world, this new phrase is shared on social media alongside images of unusual injuries:
"I had to go to the hospital for heart issues because I got so angry when my advisor didn't approve my leave"; or "I twisted my neck when I stretched"; or "I tried not to laugh, and it caused my nasal artery to rupture."
“因辅导员不批假气到心脏疼住院”“我伸个懒腰，脖子扭了”“憋笑致鼻动脉破裂。”
The list of unusual ailments goes on:
Dislocating a jaw while yawning, passing out from hunger while waiting to be seated at a Haidilao hot pot restaurant, fainting from exhaustion on the way to request leave during military training, experiencing emotional distress due to not getting a serving of pig's trotter rice, and ending up in the hospital after getting scared while playing a horror video game.
打哈欠脱臼、海底捞门口饿晕、军训请假路上累晕、没吃到猪脚饭情绪受到刺激、玩恐怖游戏吓进医院。 [1]
Although often shared in a humorous, self-deprecating way, these ailments reveal a more serious trend among China's younger generation:
One of the most obvious reasons behind the decline in the physical fitness of university students is the change in lifestyle.
Additionally, the lack of exercise, a habit that many individuals fail to develop, can also impact their overall physical health.
A survey of 12,117 university students revealed that 60% of these students are under academic stress. For seniors (fourth-year students), the primary source of stress is future employment, while half of master's and doctoral students report lack of sleep.
“大学生体质变差了”背后最显而易见的原因之一，是生活习惯的改变。加上可能很多人未养成锻炼习惯，体质健康水平亦会受到影响。
另外，一份涵盖12117名“互联网原住民”大学生的调查报告显示，60%的大学生都被学业压力困扰，大四生的压力来源是就业，硕博生有一半人睡眠不足。 [1]
So, that's what we explore this week!
🎧What you’re missing in the member podcast 🎧
Today’s member podcast episode includes 27 minutes of native Chinese audio, going deeper into this story, some of the language we learn we learn, and the full featured article we read this week. It also includes a full transcript!
Sign up now to become a member, unlock the audio, and all the other member benefits!
Favourite Five
1. 脆脆鲨 cuì cuì shā
crispy shark
这届“脆脆鲨”大学生，没那么简单 - This generation of "crispy shark" university students is not that simple. [1]
Note: Crunchy Shark is a brand of chocolate by Nestle which is popular in China - it’s a bit like a Kit Kat. It's become a popular meme online describing someone who is making strange but cute faces. Here it’s linked to the phrase "crispy college students" below and means the same thing.
2. 形形色色 xíng xíng sè sè
all kinds of
症状形形色色，“嘎”法层出不穷 - Various symptoms are emerging continuously. [1]
Note: This idiom was used in all articles I read about this story.
3. 两眼一黑 liǎng yǎn yì hēi
to see stars, to be dazzled
只看就已经觉得两眼一黑，你看的剧里有布洛芬吗 - Just by looking, you already feel dazzled. Did you see any ibuprofen in the drama you watched? [1]
Note: An internet slang phrase.
4. 尊嘟假嘟 zūn dū jiǎ dū
really?!
你们大学生这状态到底是“尊嘟假嘟” - What's up with you college students? Are you serious? [1]
Note: An internet phrase equivalent to the Chinese 真的假的 - meaning, "Really?!"
5. 脆皮大学生 cuì pí dà xué shēng
"crispy" college students, students who appear tough on the outside but are fragile inside
对于“脆皮大学生”，同学们是如何看待的？大学生为啥会变“脆皮”？当代大学生真的这么“脆”吗 - How do students perceive the term "crispy" college students? Why have college students become "crispy"? Are contemporary college students really this "fragile"? [2]
More: A new internet phrase we explore in more detail in The China Project Phrase of the Week.
Related:
脆弱 cuì ruò - fragile
脆皮 cuì pí - crispy, thin-skinned
Related: "crispy college students" is the opposite to another common phrase: 硬核青年 yìng hé qīng nián - hardcore young people, determined and persistent
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 嘎 gā
to die
症状形形色色，“嘎”法层出不穷，堪称医学界小概率事件集中爆发之年 - They show a wide range of symptoms, as if they could die a million different ways. This year can even be called the year of rare diseases. [1]
Note: An internet slang phrase which is a humorous way to say "die", originally from a northern Chinese dialect.
7. 诉苦 sù kǔ
to vent one's grievances, to complain
互联网上，随处可见他们“另类”诉苦 - On the internet, you can easily find them venting their grievances in an unusual manner. [1]
8. 微瑕 wēi xiá
minor flaw, tiny imperfection
有人因侧躺玩手机确诊了斜视，已经可以划分到“微微瑕”那一类 - Some people have been diagnosed with strabismus because they lie on their side while playing with their phones. They can already be categorised as people with "minor flaws". [1]
Note: An internet slang which first began in China's second-hand online market world.
9. 犯病 fàn bìng
to get sick
在互联网上晒病例和曲折离奇的“犯病”全过程 - They post online their symptoms and how they strangely got sick.[1]
Note: Used informally to describe someone acting unusually or irrationally.
10. 变形 biàn xíng
distortion; transformation
说到底，这还是一种变形的健康焦虑 - In the end, this is still a kind of health anxiety manifesting itself in a different way. [3]
Three-character phrases
11. 岔了气 chà le qì
to get out of breath, to have difficulty breathing
孟真如在走廊里和舍友开玩笑小跑了几步，一边跑一边笑，突然岔了气，一口气怎么也喘不上来 - Meng Zhenru was laughing with her roommate in the corridor, as she ran. Suddenly, she got out of breath and couldn't catch her breath. [2]
12. 杀马特 shā mǎ tè
Shamate subculture
归其根本是一种标签思维，就像说“90后”是“杀马特”一样 - Ultimately, it's a form of overgeneralization, similar to saying "post-90s" are "shamates". [2]
Note: A subculture that sprang up in China among young, mainly rural populations in the 1990s. The Chinese characters “shā-mǎ-tè” sound similar to the English word “smart”. The style is outrageous hairstyles, clothing, and makeup that took influences from glam rock, metal, and punk, without the wearers necessarily knowing what any of those things were.
13. 撕标签 sī biāo qiān
remove labels, to reject categorization
这是一个撕标签与贴标签的过程吗 - Is this a process of removing labels and applying new labels? [3]
Related:
贴标签 - to label something (negative)
标签化 - to become labelled
Idioms
14. 千奇百怪 qiān qí bǎi guài
myriads of oddities, all sorts of peculiarities
各位大学生将自己送进医院的方式千奇百怪状况百出，但用他们自己的话来说“虽然很脆弱但又很难杀” - College students went to hospital in all sorts of peculiar ways, with countless odd situations. But in their own words, they are "fragile yet hard to kill". [3]
15. 荒诞不经 huāng dàn bù jīng
absurd, ridiculous, far-fetched
这些精神脆皮事件看似荒诞不经，细细想来又有种微妙的共情 - These mentally "crispy" events may seem absurd, but upon closer examination, they are also unexpectedly relatable. [3]
16. 身脆志坚 shēn cuì zhì jiān
fragile in body but resolute in spirit
许多人甚至还将自己的经历配上轻快音乐和卡点节奏，主打一个身脆志坚 - Many people even set their experiences to light-hearted music and rhythmic beats, highlighting them being physically fragile but mentally strong. [1]
Note: This an adaptation of another idiom: 身残志坚 shēn cán zhì jiān - physically disabled but resolute in spirit.
17. 弱不禁风 ruò bù jīn fēng
fragile and unable to withstand the wind, physically weak
感觉好多人都“弱不禁风”的 - It feels like many people are physically weak and fragile. [2]
18. 屡见不鲜 lǚ jiàn bù xiān
a common occurrence
“今天工作太忙没时间吃饭”“白天都没有自己的时间熬个夜吧”的情况屡见不鲜 - Situations like "I was too busy with work to eat today" and "I don't even have my own time during the day, so I have to stay up at night" are a common occurrence. [3]
19. 抽丝剥茧 chōu sī bō jiǎn
to pull threads and peel off the cocoon; to unravel a mystery
从大家的答案中抽丝剥茧，倒也不难发现，大学生的“命脆”从入学第一天就开始有了征兆 - Teasing from the answers from everyone, it's not difficult to discover that the "fragile fate" of college students had signs right from the first day of enrollment. [1]
Phrases
20. 埋下隐患 mái xià yǐn huàn
to sow the seeds of trouble, to create hidden dangers
长期的睡眠时间不够，睡眠质量不佳无疑为他们的身体状况埋下了健康隐患 - Lack of sleep and poor sleep quality over the long term undoubtedly sow the seeds of health problems for their bodies. [1]
21. 好事一桩 hǎo shì yì zhuāng
a good deed, a virtuous action
把遭遇的病痛分享出来，自己的经历顺便帮助到其他人，那更是好事一桩 - Sharing the illness and pain one has experienced is doing good, since doing so can also help others. [1]
22. 心提到嗓子眼儿 xīn tí dào sǎng zi yǎn'r
to have one's heart in one's throat, to be anxious or nervous
以至于现在很多人一刷到话题，心先提到嗓子眼儿，让我来看看怎么回事 - So much so that when many people come across this topic, they get anxious or nervous and think, "Let me see what's going on?" [1]
23. 初生牛犊不怕虎 chū shēng niú dú bú pà hǔ
a young calf doesn't fear a tiger
由于缺乏必要的生活经验，有着初生牛犊不怕虎的莽撞和自信 - Due to the lack of necessary life experience, they exhibit a reckless and confident attitude, just like a young calf not fearing a tiger. [3]
Note: Used to describe someone who is inexperienced and fearless.
Become a member of RealTime Mandarin+
The RealTime Mandarin+ membership is a multimedia resource helping you learn contemporary Chinese in context
If you enjoyed reading the free newsletter, you’ll LOVE our paid membership: RealTime Mandarin+.
Joining Real-Time-Mandarin+, you’ll unlock loads of extra resources to help you dramatically improve your Chinese language skills.
Every week you get access to new content:
🔈Podcast - 30 min podcast every Saturday with 80% native Mandarin (including transcript)
📚 Resources and integrations - Pleco, Skritter, Hack Chinese, mylingua (new!), and PDF printouts
👩🎓 Intermediate newsfeed - One ‘real’ Chinese language news podcast and article published every Sunday, in a lesson format, pitched at an intermediate level
💬 Community - Slack community, Substack Chat, online meet-ups, in-person gatherings
🤿 Quarterly Deep Dives - One hour webinars focussing on one key challenge of intermediate learners delivered around the end of every quarter.
When you join, you’ll also have an optional 1-1 onboarding and coaching call to help orientate you.
It’s the best way to get motivated, inspired, and kick-start your Mandarin learning habit.
You can access all of these resources for less than the cost of one pint per week in a London pub.
It’s a no brainer (and much better for you)!
So, if you’ve been on the fence for a while, now is the time to confront it, invest in yourself, and commit!
Happy learning!
Andrew