摸我 mō wǒ (mwuh wuh)
Literally means, “touch me.” Used to say “MSN me” (i.e., chat me via MSN). MSN’s instant messaging service is immensely popular in China, and the first letter of MSN sounds to Chinese ears like the word 摸 mō (mwuh), which means “touch.”
得体 détǐ (duh tee)
Literally means “good and proper,” but because it sounds like the English word “dirty,” which has the opposite meaning, the word has been punned on and joked about to the extent that it has now taken on the alternate meaning of “someone who seems good on the outside but is actually bad on the inside.” This new usage has been popularized by the song “Dirty” by Taiwanese-American singer Lee-Hom Wang.
Praise
BT
Stands for 变态 biàntài (byinn tie), which means “perverted” or “deviant” and once referred to homosexuality, sexual fetishes, people with an abnormal fixation on violence, etc. In online culture, however, it has now taken on a joking or positive connotation; thus calling someone BT is akin to cheerfully saying something like “you pervert” or “you weirdo” to a friend, or like saying “you’re so bad” when what you really mean is that you’re impressed.
PF
Stands for 佩服 pèifú (pay foo), meaning “admire.”
赞 zàn (dzahn)
Means “to praise” and is often used online when recommending or raving about a movie, a story, etc.
94
Agreed, I agree. “Nine four” in Chinese is jǐu sì (joe sih), which sounds like the phrase 就是 jiùshì (joe shih), which means “yes” or “it’s true.”
PL
Stands for 漂亮 piàoliàng (pyow lyahng), or “pretty.”
PPMM
Stands for 漂漂妹妹 piàopiào mèimèi (pyow pyow may may), a cutesy way of saying “pretty girl.”
ML
Stands for 美丽 měilì (may lee), or “beautiful.”
Miscellaneous
火星文 huǒxīngwén (hwuh sheeng when)
Internet or text-messaging shorthand, such as “lol,” “Cul8r,” and “b4.” Literally “martian language” because the hodgepodge use of numbers, symbols, made-up words, and letters from other languages looks like a new, foreign (or interplanetary, thus martian) language.
火星人 huǒxīngrén (hwuh sheeng ren)
A martian. That is, someone out of touch with reality or with the latest news and trends. A commenter might jokingly (or pejoratively) reply to such a person, “你是火星回来的吗?” “Nǐ shì huǒxīng huílai de ma?” (nee shih hwuh sheeng hway lie duh ma): “Did you just get back from Mars?” In general, Chinese Internet users frequently make jokes about being from Mars in response to things they find funny or bizarre.
火星贴 huǒxīng tiē (hwuh sheeng tyih)
Literally “post from Mars.” Refers to an extremely old post. If someone posts something old that everyone’s seen before, someone might comment, “This is a post from Mars.”
LZ
Stands for 楼主 lóuzhǔ (low joo), which refers to the author of a post or the person who starts a BBS thread. So you might write something like, “I agree with LZ.” Literally means “building owner” or “owner of the house.”
沙发 shāfā (shah fa)
Literally means “sofa” and refers to the first person to reply to a post. Since LZ (page 182) is the “owner of the house,” the first person to reply, or enter the house, gets the sofa. Sometimes just written in English, as “sofa.” The next commenter after the “sofa” is referred to as 坐板凳 zuò bǎndèng (zwuh bahn dung), meaning “sitting on a bench.”
高楼 gāolóu (gaow low)
Literally means “tall building” and used online to refer to a topic or post that attracts hundreds of replies, making the thread taller and taller, like a high-rise building.
斑竹 bānzhú (bahn joo)
Literally “bamboo” but used to refer to a BBS moderator because it is pronounced exactly like the real term for the moderator, which is 版主 bānzhú (bahn joo).
RT
Stands for 如题 rútí (roo tee), which means “refer to the title or subject.” A common response when someone asks a stupid question, as in, “Look at the title and subject-the answer is obvious from that.”
286
Out of fashion, out of date, old-fashioned. Refers to an old, and thus outdated, computer chip from the 1980s (the Intel 80286).
死机 sǐjī (sih gee)
Means “unexpected computer shutdown.” Literally “dead machine,” but now more widely used to indicate being so dumbfounded by something that you can’t even respond.
蜜 mì (me) and 黑 hēi (hay)
Mì means “honey” and is tacked onto a word to indicate fervent support for a certain athlete or sports team, the way we might use “freak,” as in “He’s a total Raiders freak.” Hēi means “black” and is used the same way, but to indicate hatred.
晒 shài (shy)
Literally means “to air” or “to sun” and can thus suggest “to show.” Used online to refer to the popular phenomenon of netizens photographing their stuff (some women, for example, like to photograph their extensive and very expensive collection of cosmetics and beauty products) and posting the pictures online to show off, prompt discussions about favorite products, share recommendations, etc. Another common variation is 兽 shòu (show), which means “beast” but sounds exactly like the English word “show.”
长草 zhǎng cǎo (dzahng tsow)
Literally “grow grass.” On the Chinese Internet, feelings of yearning or want are described as “grass growing in the heart,” and netizens often use the expression when they see things they want that other netizens shài or shòu (see above) online.
三手病 sān shŏu bìng (sahn show bing)
Literally “three hands illness.” Describes tiredness of the hand due to excessive computer use. A person who spends too much time gaming or online is called a 三手 sān shŏu (sahn show). An equivalent Western concept might be “Blackberry thumb”: pain caused by typing too much with your thumbs on your Blackberry.
假跳 jiǎtiào (jah tyow)
Used online to mean “lie.” Literally “false jump.” It comes from the role-playing computer game PK: Police and Killer, and it refers to when a policeman in the game pretends that he has mistaken a civilian for the killer.
爆头 bàotóu (baow toe)
Literally “explode head.” This term comes from the computer game Counter-Strike, in which it refers to killing an opponent, but has spread beyond that context to mean any sort of unexpected attack or blow.
留爪 liú zhuǎ (lyew jwa-the first syllable rhymes with “ew”)
Literally “leave a claw mark.” Refers to posting on BBSs.
失写症 shī xiě zhēng (shih shyih jung)
Literally “lose writing illness.” Refers to the phenomenon of using the computer so much that you forget how to write Chinese characters by hand.