u/ExcelMandarin

My friend has four guys she texts. She's not dating any of them. She's not stringing them along, exactly.

She just... keeps the options swimming.

养鱼 (yǎng yú) = Raising Fish / Keeping Fish

Verb. Maintaining multiple potential romantic interests in a holding pattern , fed with just enough attention to stay alive, not released, not committed to.

Not ghosting. Not cheating. Just aquarium management.

The ocean is for 海王 hǎi wáng (Sea Kings who actively pursue everyone). The tank is for 养鱼yǎng yú — more passive, more domestic. You're not hunting. You're just... maintaining your collection.

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「你是在养鱼吗？」nǐ zài yǎng yú yú ma?= "Are you keeping me as a fish?"

You're at dinner. Two of your friends are there.

Except they're couple, feeding each other. Finishing each other's sentences. Making sustained eye contact like you don't exist.

You are alone. You are watching this. You will finish your meal in silence.

In Chinese, you are eating dog food.

吃狗粮 (chī gǒu liáng) = Eating Dog Food

Verb. The experience of being single while surrounded by an affectionate couple.

You are the dog. This is your food. Consume it.

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How many of you have had to eat dog food recently?

My friend found out the guy she was seeing was simultaneously seeing three other women.

In English: player. F-boy.

In Chinese? He's a 海王.

海王 (hǎi wáng) = Sea King (like Poseidon)

Noun. Someone who casts romantic lines into every sea simultaneously ,always available, always charming, never committed.

The ocean is full of fish. The 海王 has them all on the hook at once.

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Your language's equivalent of this word 👀

You know this person. Maybe you've been this person.

She hasn't replied in four days. He just sent a "good morning ☀️" anyway.

In Mandarin, we call him a 舔狗.

舔狗 (tiǎn gǒu) = Lick Dog

Noun. Someone who relentlessly pursues a person who shows zero interest , often at the cost of their own dignity. Not just persistent. Genuinely unfazed by being ignored.

舔 = to lick. 狗 = dog. Put it together: someone so desperate for approval they'll lick the hand that never pets them back.

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My cousin works at a tech company in Shenzhen. A couple years ago he told me he was 躺平-ing.

I asked if he got fired.

He laughed and said no. He just decided to stop trying so hard. Show up. Do the work. Go home. No overtime. No side hustles. No LinkedIn posts about "grinding."

Just... existing.

躺平 (tǎng píng) = Lie Flat

Verb. A conscious choice to reject hustle culture and live with minimal ambition. Not laziness — more like a quiet protest against a system that demands too much.

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It went viral in China around 2021. Then r/antiwork happened. Then "quiet quitting" became a NYT think piece.The Chinese had the word for it first.

躺平 is more honest though. You're not quietly quitting. You're openly, philosophically opting out.

Anybody else been 躺平-ing lately? 🛋️

An emperor's official was rewarded with a beautiful concubine. His wife was furious.

The emperor, amused, told her: accept it — or drink this "poison."

She drank it without hesitating.

It was vinegar. The sour expression on her face said everything.

吃醋 (chī cù) = Eat Vinegar

The feeling of romantic jealousy. That sharp, sour sting when someone you like pays attention to someone else.

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This phrase has survived over a thousand years because the metaphor is too perfect. Jealousy IS sour. You feel it before you understand it.

Dog person or Cat person? this is how Chinese says it

你是狗派還是貓派？ _nǐ shì gǒu pài hái shì māo pài?_

派 (pài) = faction, side, camp

so it's not just "i like dogs" — you're declaring which side you belong to

my students were discussing about this in class today and it got heated fast

狗派 say dogs are loyal, fun, love you unconditionally 貓派 say cats are independent, unbothered, don't need your approval

honestly both sides are right😆

EDIT: the first half of the last sentence: "大家以為他是吃軟飯的" should be translated as “everyone thought he was mooching off his sugar momma”. (Thanks to /u/alithair)

Chinese culture literally expects the man to pay for everything

So they invented a word for when he doesn't

吃軟飯 (chī ruǎn fàn) = eating soft rice

means: a man who lets his girlfriend or wife support him financially — considered shameful in Chinese culture

他不工作，靠女朋友養，真的在吃軟飯。 tā bù gōngzuò, kào nǚ péngyǒu yǎng, zhēn de zài chī ruǎn fàn. "he doesn't work, lives off his girlfriend — total 吃軟飯"

the cultural context is wild though, in China there's this unspoken rule that the man pays for dates, the apartment, the ring, everything

so a guy who flips that? he gets a whole word dedicated to calling him out

found out Chinese has a word for being broke and it's poetic

吃土 (chī tǔ) = eating dirt

what it actually means: so broke you can't afford food, might as well eat dirt
发工资前：只能吃土了 fā gōngzī qián: zhǐ néng chī tǔ le "before payday: guess i'm eating dirt"

every. single. month.

the fact that Chinese invented a whole word for this tells you everything you need to know about the economy 😂

你上次吃土是什么时候？ nǐ shàng cì chī tǔ shì shénme shíhou? "when was the last time you ate dirt?

Did you know there's a Chinese word for every Monday and Friday when you 不想上班 bù xiǎng shàng bān

薪水小偷 (xīnshuǐ xiǎotōu) = salary thief

An employee who collects their paycheck without putting in real effort

We say "Be a salary thief➡️"当薪水小偷"➡️dāng xīnshuǐ xiǎotōu

mini survey:

谁今天是薪水小偷？shéi jīn tiān shì xīn shuǐ xiǎo tōu?