Learning catchwords brings expats closer to local friends. Photo: IC

 

Ara Martínez and her Chinese neighbor were deep in conversation about the hit TV show Game of Thrones. While they were both sharing their enthusiasm about the show, when Martínez asked her neighbor which "xiaoxianrou" (young male actor) is her favorite, the Chinese neighbor was surprised that Martínez was using this specific Chinese catchword.

"Xiaoxianrou" is translated literally in English as "young and fresh meat." This term is usually used to describe a young actor or idol that is known for his good look and attractive body.

"When I say it, I feel like a predator that sees its prey and wants to devour it," said Martínez. "It is so animalistic that it literally shows the attraction toward the actors."

Martínez is a 16-year-old Spanish girl who came to China recently and studies in a bilingual school in Beijing. She studied Chinese for four years before her arrival, but she recently started learning the popular catchwords through the social networks.

Martínez uses her newly found catchwords whenever possible. She notices the terms are especially useful in conversations with Chinese young people, and may help her integrate with the local community.

"It feels really nice to be able to incorporate these words into my daily life; it makes me feel like I have a better understanding of Chinese," said Martínez.

Catchwords are becoming popular among expats. By learning these phrases, they have a better understanding of Chinese culture and new local trends that are emerging in the country. 

A greater understanding of Chinese culture and trends can be gained through learning local catchwords. Photo: IC

 

How to be a laosiji

Marie is a British expat based in Beijing, known by her Chinese name Tan Manru on zhihu.com, a Chinese version of Quora, for her grasp of Chinese language and her ability to answer questions about transnational culture. Marie shared her story of how to be a "laosiji"  (translated literally as a person with experience in a certain field) of using Chinese catchwords.

It started when she began to introduce herself as a "fuguoren." "Fu" indicates bromance, "guo" means country, and "ren" means people, so with these three Chinese characters, it translates literally to a person from the country of bromance.

Marie learned this term from friends online. "Only Chinese have this impression that Britain is a country for bromance. As far as I know, Britain is known as a country of old school gentlemen in the eyes of Americans and Europeans."

Britain was given this nick name because British dramas are usually more open with homosexual and bromance elements. Even in a drama where all the characters are straight, they are always intertwined in bromance relationships.

Catchwords are a part of Marie's everyday life. For example, she also used to calls herself "danshengou," which means "single dog."

"Chinese people use dog to indicate a single person. This term is cuter and milder than most terms from the West. For example, we use terms like 'forever alone' when referring to single people, which is so cruel," she said. "Using this term describes that a single person is delicate like a poor dog, so how could you be so heartless to hurt us like this?"

Marie said that as a foreign language, Chinese is quite mild when using mockery, lacking bitter implications. "These terms create intimacy and amusement in conversation," she said.

Because of her skillful use of catchwords, her fans gave her the name  "laosiji," which stems from a folk song in Yunnan Province, "Experienced Driver, Give me a Ride," which features hilarious and extremely open lyrics. Experienced driver originally referred to a playboy, and then gradually became a neutral term used in jest.

"I am not yet a 'laosiji,' I still have a long way to go because sometimes I do not understand when people use the latest catchwords. But I will keep learning from every conversation with Chinese friends," Marie said.

Buzzwords in language teaching

The Chinese language teachers are also gradually realizing the importance of Chinese catchwords.

Andreas Laimböck, who hails from Germany, is the founder and director of Live the Language Mandarin School, which is located in Beijing and sticks to immersion education.

According to Laimböck, the use of catchwords is in accordance with the teaching philosophy of total immersion into the Chinese environment, loaded with cultural background information.

 "Catchwords can give expats a clue about how Chinese think and how do they create words," he said.

Wang Rong, a Chinese language teacher for expats since 2008, also found that there are more and more expats eager to learn Chinese catchwords, especially younger expats under 25.

According to her, mainstream catchwords like "dama" (elderly Chinese women) and "guangchangwu" (square dance), which have existed for years and will not vanish quickly, were originally included into their teaching agenda due to their worldwide recognition.

For example, students are curious to learn about a popular term, "youyidexiaochuan, shuofanjiufan" (meaning friendship is like a little ship, and it wrecks easily), which is just in vogue for a few months. "Every time my students find interesting catchwords from friends or social networks, they will turn to us and ask what they mean," said Wang.

Many students tell Wang that Chinese people their age will think they are so cool by using the latest expressions. "Young people love to use jargons, and with these catchwords as passport, expats can quickly enter the circles of Chinese young people."

Then Wang decided to add some information about catchwords in the WeChat and Facebook accounts they operate. These posts can usually attract thousands of readers, and finally become the most popular topics.

Integration and culture

Wang attributes the motivation of expats to learn Chinese catchwords to the growing importance of catchwords in Chinese people's lives.

According to Wang, many catchwords are rooted in Chinese culture and in turn reflect and even spread cultural connotations, such as "dama" and "guangchangwu."

"Many expats believe 'dama' can be a powerful group whenever they are gathered together, not only in their performances of 'guangchangwu' but also when they appear in international events and news. Many expats also watch square dancing and are amazed to find older generations in China participate in the unique Chinese activity," said Wang.

Some Chinese catchwords are so popular that they have also spread abroad, and many foreign news media platforms have started using them.

Words like "hukou"(household registration) and "tuhao" (the crass new rich) have even been shortlisted for inclusion in The Oxford English Dictionary, according to a Global Times report last year.

 Wang said that many expats feel cool using catchwords, and even use them to replace their native words. For example, a popular catchword is the interjection "shenmegui," similar to "what the hell" in English, but milder and less abrasive. It is used when a person is surprised or as a statement that you disagree with what is being said.

Many catchwords like this are less serious and bring laughter into conversations, said Wang.

Cultural gap can make expats' use of catchwords a tricky thing, because catchwords can have many implications behind the literal meaning, while expats mainly use them in their literal sense.

"There are many funny situations where some students took "lüchabiao" (green tea bitch) as a good term and used it to refer to themselves because they thought adding bitch to "lücha" (green tea) was cool," said Wang.

Martínez also makes these kinds of mistakes.

"I still need to learn more about the culture behind, and use the terms in conversation," said Martínez, "Although there could be a catastrophe to use the wrong catchwords, we learn from mistakes."