Chinese internet slang decoder: 40 terms (yyds, 666, 内卷, 躺平, awsl, xswl, 绝绝子, 破防...) with meaning, era and how each is formed; terms on an annual list show the list and year.
Chinese Internet Slang Decoder (网络用语翻译)
How to use
Enter the term
Simplified or Traditional characters (内卷 or 內捲), pinyin initials (yyds, awsl), digits (666, 520) or an English meaning ("lying flat") all work.
5 categories
Number homophones, pinyin initials, English letters (gg, emo), new words and new senses (内卷, 躺平) and kaomoji / letter art (orz, QwQ). Knowing how a term is built is what lets you decode one you have not seen.
See the era
Each term carries an approximate decade (2000s, 2010s, 2020s). Where an annual list recorded the term, the decade follows the list year.
See how it is formed
The last column says how the term is built — what the letters or digits stand for — and, for terms on 《咬文嚼字》's or NLRMRC's annual list, what that list said about it. Origin stories no source records are left out.
Chinese netspeak — how the terms are built
Chinese internet slang is built in a handful of ways: pinyin initials (yyds for 永远的神), digits read as other words (520 for 我爱你), English letters and loans (gg, emo), old words given a new job (躺平 "lie flat", 破防 "defences broken") and new coinages (鸡娃, 打工人). The table sorts every term by how it is built, because that is what lets you decode a term you have not seen before.
Two annual lists that record the language
Several annual lists record new online vocabulary; this tool uses two of them. The National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center (NLRMRC) publishes a top ten every December. By its own description, the list comes from its monitoring corpus of online media, compiled mainly by automated text processing while taking account of experts' views and search-engine coverage; in 2025 it was renamed from 十大网络用语 to 十大网络流行语. The magazine 《咬文嚼字》 publishes a separate top ten, chosen through reader nominations, online votes and review by experts and the media. Where a term here is on either list, the table names the list and year and quotes its explanation.
A list records the year a word was at its peak. It says nothing about whether the word stayed in use, and it is not a government approval or ban.
内卷 and 躺平
《咬文嚼字》's 2020 release says 内卷 translates the English "involution" and was originally a sociology term. In the second half of 2020 several photos went round of students studying on their bicycles; the one using a computer while cycling was dubbed 卷王, the "king of involution", and university students took up 内卷 for irrational competition among themselves. 躺平 made both lists in 2021. 《咬文嚼字》 describes it as an attitude of not acting, not resisting and not trying; the NLRMRC's note calls it no more than a short rest on the road of striving. The lists carry a point of view of their own.
"A slang list records the year a word peaked, not how long it lasted."
About this tool
The tool covers 40 terms, mostly mainland usage, and searches in Simplified or Traditional characters. The list was built in May 2026 and is not updated on a schedule; on 30 September 2026 it was reviewed, one entry with no source was removed, and every note was checked against the lists. Most terms from the 2022–2025 lists are not yet included. The page explains what the terms mean; it does not judge or endorse them.
What two annual slang lists said about these terms
"YYDS" is on NLRMRC's 2021 top ten, which tied it to the flood of online cheering for Chinese athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. We found no primary source for its first use.
"打工人" (《咬文嚼字》 2020): on 22 September a user posted a selfie video ending "早安，打工人！" ("Morning, workers!"). The word, once used mostly for migrant manual workers, widened to mean anyone who works for a living.
"凡尔赛文学" ("Versailles literature", 《咬文嚼字》 2020) is named after the Japanese manga The Rose of Versailles. It took off in early November, when a Weibo user verified as a writer posted in this complain-to-boast style and drew mockery.
"破防" (《咬文嚼字》 2021) began as an online-game term for gear or skills losing their defence. It now means an emotional guard giving way — usually being moved, less often being hurt.
"鸡娃" (《咬文嚼字》 2021) is short for 给孩子打鸡血, "inject the child with chicken blood". The editors point out that 鸡 has picked up a use as a verb.
"硬控" (《咬文嚼字》 2024) came from games, where it names a skill that stops a player controlling their character for a while. Now it means something so gripping you cannot look away.
"996" is on NLRMRC's 2019 top ten. It is a label for working hours (9am to 9pm, six days a week), not a sound pun — built differently from 520 or 666.
"555" is a Mandarin pun: 5 (wǔ) sounds like 呜 (wū), a sob. CUHK's Cantonese pronunciation database gives 五 as ng5 and 嗚 as wu1, so the pun does not work in Cantonese.
Dictionaries move slowly. China's National Press and Publication Administration says the 《现代汉语大词典》, launched in April 2026, includes online words "with vitality" such as 梗, 破圈, 开挂 and 斜杠青年.
Frequently Asked Questions
40 terms, from the 2000s to the 2020s, mostly mainland usage. The list is not updated on a schedule; it was last reviewed on 30 September 2026.
For most terms the decade is approximate. Where 《咬文嚼字》's or NLRMRC's annual list recorded a term, the note names the list and year and the decade agrees with it.
No. The terms are mainland usage. The Traditional-Chinese page shows them in Traditional characters and search works in either script, but Hong Kong and Taiwan slang is not covered.
Yes. Every entry has an English meaning and a note on how the term is built, which is often the quickest way to decode a new one.
Many do. An annual list records the year a word peaked, so being on a list does not mean a word is still current.
Context-dependent. Team chats and social events are fine. Avoid it in formal emails and client communication, and be cautious with terms about social issues such as 内卷 or 996.
A few. 润 (to leave, especially to emigrate), 996 (long working hours) and 躺平 (opting out) are socially or politically charged in mainland China. They are listed because they are widely used; the tool gives their meaning and takes no position.
Yes — submit it via the RECATOOLS feedback channel. There is no fixed update schedule, and a term is added only if its meaning can be checked.
Meanings are compiled by hand. For terms on an annual list, the notes quote two lists: NLRMRC's top ten (table for 2012–2024, 2025) and 《咬文嚼字》's top ten for 2020–2025, read in the editorial board's releases as reproduced by China News Service, Science and Technology Daily and Beijing Daily. The Cantonese readings behind the 555 note come from CUHK's Cantonese pronunciation database. Origin stories with no primary source — which streamer or forum used a term first — are left out.
Yes. All RECATOOLS tools are 100% free, ad-supported.
Method & sources
How it computes
A hand-compiled list of 40 terms. Each note says how the term is formed (the words its letters or digits stand for) or quotes the annual list that recorded it; origin stories no primary source records are left out. Search folds full-width input and Traditional characters to Simplified, matches headwords both ways (凡尔赛文学 finds 凡尔赛, 5201314 finds 520 and 1314), then the zh-CN, zh-TW and English meanings.
What this tool implements
- List years come from two of the annual lists that record new online vocabulary: NLRMRC's top ten (2012-2025; compiled, by its own account, mainly by automated processing of its monitoring corpus, taking account of experts' views and search-engine coverage) and 《咬文嚼字》's top ten (2020-2025; reader nominations, online votes, expert and media review). Other lists exist and are not used.
- A term on one of those lists shows the list and year; for the rest the decade is an estimate, and no first-use date is claimed.
- Until 2026-09-30 the page cited a "Modern Chinese Netspeak Dictionary" (《现代汉语网络用语词典》) that an exact-title search could not find, and stated origin stories (Twitch, esports commentary, a Tsinghua photo) no primary source supports. Both were removed.
- 555 is a Mandarin pun only: CUHK gives 五 as ng5 in Cantonese, so it does not work there.
Sources
- National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center, Network Media Branch (Central China Normal University). 年度十大网络用语, 2012-2024 table and method. https://nlp.ccnu.edu.cn/conference/15
- National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center. 2021年度十大网络用语 (YYDS, 破防, 绝绝子, 躺平). 2021. https://nlp.ccnu.edu.cn/news/116
- National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center. 2025年度十大网络流行语. 12 Dec 2025. https://nlp.ccnu.edu.cn/news/146
- 《咬文嚼字》 editorial board. 2020年十大流行语 (打工人, 内卷, 凡尔赛文学), reproduced by China News Service, 4 Dec 2020. https://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/2020/12-04/9354293.shtml
- 《咬文嚼字》 editorial board. 2021年度十大流行语 (破防, 鸡娃, 躺平), reproduced by China News Service, 8 Dec 2021. http://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/2021/12-08/9624872.shtml
- 《咬文嚼字》 editorial board. 2024年十大流行语 (硬控), reproduced by Science and Technology Daily, 3 Dec 2024. https://www.stdaily.com/web/gdxw/2024-12/03/content_268002.html
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 粵語審音配詞字庫 (Cantonese pronunciation database): 五 ng5, 嗚 wu1. https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-can/
- National Press and Publication Administration. 《现代汉语大词典》 launch, 23 Apr 2026. https://www.nppa.gov.cn/xxfb/ywdt/202604/t20260423_986384.html
What can make this go out of date
- Both lists publish a new top ten each December; most 2022-2025 picks are not in this tool.
- Slang meanings drift, and a term on a list records one year's peak, not continued use.
Pick up where you left off
Stored only in this browser — never sent to our servers.