NET-SAVVY CHINESE SAY '88' TO TRADITIONAL VOCABULARY
Geoffrey York, The Globe and Mail, 11/11/05
Call it the "88" generation.
In the new age of hip, young, Web-savvy Chinese, you don't say goodbye with an old-fashioned Chinese word. You sign off your messages with a cheery "88" -- a phrase that baffles parents and horrifies conservative language guardians. The phrase's origins are a crossbreed of English and Chinese cybershorthand, a globalized argot favoured by the Internet crowd here. The Chinese word for eight is ba, so 88 can be pronounced as ba-ba or bye-bye.
That phrase, at least, is relatively easy to comprehend. But some of the new slang is based on puns and wordplay. Instead of asking, "What?" in a computer message, many use the Chinese character xiami, which means "shrimp as small as rice." The reason? Xiami sounds a bit like shenme, the Chinese word for "what."
The Chinese written language has survived thousands of years of turmoil and foreign invasion. It survived the transition from classical Chinese to the modern, simplified version, and it even survived the deadening slogans of Maoist propaganda. But it has never suffered anything quite like the indignities of the latest threat: the huge popularity of the Internet, with more than 100 million people connected -- and the number rising exponentially every year.
To the outrage of the older generation, these newly invented Internet words are creeping into state press, young students' schoolwork and even university entrance exams. The government is striking back with laws and regulations to protect the ancient language. Some measures are well known. Internet cafés, for example, are strictly controlled, with registration rules for users and limits on computer games. But in recent months, debate has erupted about the Net's influence on language itself.
In response to the mounting concern, several local governments are introducing new laws. Shanghai has drafted rules that would prohibit Internet slang from being used as "official language" in classrooms, newspapers, government departments and publications. The city of Nanjing has banned the use of Internet slang in compositions by elementary and middle school pupils. The province of Jilin is introducing laws to require "standard characters" in advertisements, billboards and eight other categories of writing, effectively banning Internet slang from those areas. And the city of Guangzhou has ordered a review of the influence of Internet slang.
Internet users have fought back, accusing their critics of being frightened, old stick-in-the-muds who can't accept the normal evolution of language. A Beijing newspaper argued that teachers should make an effort to learn the new Internet slang. "They shouldn't suppress the writing enthusiasm of their students," it stated.
Some examples of Chinese Internet slang words:
88: bye-bye, from the Chinese word ba, meaning eight.
MM: beautiful woman, from the Chinese word mei, meaning beautiful.
konglong: ugly woman, from the Chinese word konglong, meaning dinosaur.
GG: brother, from the Chinese word gege, meaning brother.
JJ: sister, from the Chinese word jiejie, meaning sister.
TMD: curse word, from the Chinese words ta ma de, meaning his mother.
FT: to faint from surprise, from the English word faint.
PK: an opponent, from the English words player killer.
520: I love you. The Chinese words for 520 sound like wo ai ni, meaning I love you.
7456: makes me angry. The Chinese words for 7456 sound like "make me angry to death."
Call it the "88" generation.
In the new age of hip, young, Web-savvy Chinese, you don't say goodbye with an old-fashioned Chinese word. You sign off your messages with a cheery "88" -- a phrase that baffles parents and horrifies conservative language guardians. The phrase's origins are a crossbreed of English and Chinese cybershorthand, a globalized argot favoured by the Internet crowd here. The Chinese word for eight is ba, so 88 can be pronounced as ba-ba or bye-bye.
That phrase, at least, is relatively easy to comprehend. But some of the new slang is based on puns and wordplay. Instead of asking, "What?" in a computer message, many use the Chinese character xiami, which means "shrimp as small as rice." The reason? Xiami sounds a bit like shenme, the Chinese word for "what."
The Chinese written language has survived thousands of years of turmoil and foreign invasion. It survived the transition from classical Chinese to the modern, simplified version, and it even survived the deadening slogans of Maoist propaganda. But it has never suffered anything quite like the indignities of the latest threat: the huge popularity of the Internet, with more than 100 million people connected -- and the number rising exponentially every year.
To the outrage of the older generation, these newly invented Internet words are creeping into state press, young students' schoolwork and even university entrance exams. The government is striking back with laws and regulations to protect the ancient language. Some measures are well known. Internet cafés, for example, are strictly controlled, with registration rules for users and limits on computer games. But in recent months, debate has erupted about the Net's influence on language itself.
In response to the mounting concern, several local governments are introducing new laws. Shanghai has drafted rules that would prohibit Internet slang from being used as "official language" in classrooms, newspapers, government departments and publications. The city of Nanjing has banned the use of Internet slang in compositions by elementary and middle school pupils. The province of Jilin is introducing laws to require "standard characters" in advertisements, billboards and eight other categories of writing, effectively banning Internet slang from those areas. And the city of Guangzhou has ordered a review of the influence of Internet slang.
Internet users have fought back, accusing their critics of being frightened, old stick-in-the-muds who can't accept the normal evolution of language. A Beijing newspaper argued that teachers should make an effort to learn the new Internet slang. "They shouldn't suppress the writing enthusiasm of their students," it stated.
Some examples of Chinese Internet slang words:
88: bye-bye, from the Chinese word ba, meaning eight.
MM: beautiful woman, from the Chinese word mei, meaning beautiful.
konglong: ugly woman, from the Chinese word konglong, meaning dinosaur.
GG: brother, from the Chinese word gege, meaning brother.
JJ: sister, from the Chinese word jiejie, meaning sister.
TMD: curse word, from the Chinese words ta ma de, meaning his mother.
FT: to faint from surprise, from the English word faint.
PK: an opponent, from the English words player killer.
520: I love you. The Chinese words for 520 sound like wo ai ni, meaning I love you.
7456: makes me angry. The Chinese words for 7456 sound like "make me angry to death."
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