Learning Mandarin - Now, that's a different language

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Now, that's a different language

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-02-08 17:44


You may have honed your Chinese language skills for years or, for that
matter, you may be a native Chinese but when you get into a Chinese web
forum, you may feel you have stumbled into a bizarre world where every
letter is recognizable but the text as a whole reads like Greek.

To decipher the enigma of netspeak, we assembled a list of acronyms that
Chinese internet users have created and popularized. You may not be able
to find them in any dictionary, but they'll come in handy if you want to
be on the same wavelength as China's online population.

Like "LOL" (laugh out loud) in English, most acronyms in China are
shorthand for words that already exist. MF is for ma fan (trouble), PF
for pei fu (admire), NB for niu bi (wow), JS for jian shang (evil
merchants).

But meanings evolve. FB is short for fu bai (corrupt). As corrupt
officials tend to be wined and dined, netizens use FB for "dining out" in
self-mockery. Since they hate corruption, they have added another twist:
Unlike the official who never foots the bill, people who go FB usually go
Dutch.

Likewise, when one types BS or BT, or say bi shi or bian tai to each
other, they no longer mean contempt or deviant (sick), but often take on
a jocular attitude. So, if a teenager says you're BT but with a smile, it
is like an adult saying "You're bad", meaning you're wickedly good.

As in the offline language, an online acronym may have more than one
definition. PP is the childish word for either piao piao (good-looking),
pian pian (photo) or pi pi (ass). A tongue twister for your netspeak
proficiency: "I believe you're PP. So, let me look at your PP, or I'll
kick your PP."

About the most popular ellipsis is MM, for mei mei. Now written in full
as "beautiful eyebrow", it is derived from "sister", a homonym. The No 1
pursuit of netizens, given the skewed demographics, is constantly
searching for MM to date.

By extension, GG (ge ge, elder brother), DD (di di, younger brother) and
JJ (jie jie, sister) are also in vogue. But JJ could also refer to the
part of the anatomy that differentiates him from her. Again, that's
something no dictionary warns you about.

Not every online contraption is shortened from Chinese words. People key
in BF and GF for "boy friend" and "girl friend".

But the most ingenious invention is to add "ing" as a suffix to a Chinese
verb to denote continuous action.

The Chinese language is said to have no grammatical tense, but netizens
have changed that.










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