The secret code of over 500 million netizens: if you don't understand these words, you're an Ultraman.

Introduction: On the internet, there are often some alternative terms. Their appearances are unpredictable—sometimes homophonic, sometimes pictographic, sometimes using character substitution. They are the secret codes of China's 538 million netizens, symbols of real-world social codes. If you want to read Chinese online easily and without stress, it's best to understand these terms first.\
\ Ultraman\ \ Explanation: Someone outdated, someone out of fashion. It can be used as a noun, verb, or adjective.\ \ Origin: Ultraman comes from the Japanese transliteration of the English word ULTRAMAN, meaning super or extreme. The popular online term "Ultraman" is a transliteration of OUTMAN, also written as "凹凸曼".\ \ Example: I admit it, I was being an Ultraman.\ \ Overflowing with Dominance\ \ Explanation: Indicates an unbeatable strong aura, describing a person's talent, presence, or immense admiration for something.\ \ Origin: A line from the crosstalk "Journey to the East" by Guo Degang and Yu Qian during the 15th anniversary celebration of Deyunshe.\ \ Example: No matter how dominant a man is, there will be a day he will be tamed by the queen.\ \ Dear\ \ Explanation: Meaning 'dear' or 'friend'.\ \ Origin: Derived from the Korean pronunciation of the word 'friend'—qingu. Taobao played a significant role in its popularity, with buyers and sellers referring to each other as 'dear'.\ \ Example: Dear, free shipping!\

Meow What\ \ Explanation: A softer variation of a classic Chinese curse "X了个X," used playfully to express complaint or helplessness.\ \ Origin: In 2010, this sentence pattern appeared frequently in the Chinese-dubbed version of a series of Japanese animations called "Funny Cartoon Daily," and it became a popular phrase as the animation went viral.\ \ Example: "Vicente" came and took away the clothes I just hung. This meow what kind of typhoon!\ \ Master\ \ Explanation: Refers to someone extremely knowledgeable or skilled in a certain field.\ \ Origin: Comes from gaming communities and novel websites, where people highly skilled in gaming or writing are called masters.\ \ Example: My face is full of pimples, asking the PS master for help.\ \ Girl\ \ Explanation: A homophonic play on the word "姑娘" (girl).\ \ Origin: Derived from dialect.In some places in China, the pronunciation of "niang" is changed to "liang," such as in Xuzhou and Anhui, so "姑娘" (girl) becomes "菇凉." Similar homophonic words include "妹纸" and "口耐."

Example: Girl, your long black hair is extremely classical, did you travel through time?

跪了 (kui le)

Explanation: An exclamation expressing admiration or awe at someone's powerful or foolish behavior, with a sense of helpless self-mockery.

Origin: Abbreviated from the internet phrase "我给你跪下了" (I kneel to you).

Example: I really can't beat you guys, I bow down.

V5

Explanation: Powerful, full of strength. Homophone of "威武" (mighty).

Origin: Derived from the female protagonist Misaka Mikoto in the series *A Certain Scientific Railgun*, whose ability is "Railgun" level 5, abbreviated as V5. She is the highest-level ability user. The phrase "炮姐威武" (Sister Railgun is mighty) comes from this. V5 is also a specialized term in CS and Dota, meaning extremely powerful.

Example: V5 life doesn't need explanation.

基友 (ji you)

Explanation: Very close same-sex friends with ambiguous feelings, can refer to male-male or female-female relationships. Broadly, it can also refer to a group of people with shared interests, not limited by gender.

Origin: Originally an internet term referring to ambiguous relationships between gay men. Later, through online parody, "基友" became a popular trend, which everyone imitated. Some historical figures even seem to fall into this category—"Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" members Ruan Ji and Ji Kang became good "基友."

Example: Best friends, must-have companions for home and travel.

图森破 (tu sen po)

Explanation: Too young, too naive, childish and simple.

Origin: Originally from "Too young, too simple, sometimes naive!" It became widely used and netizens adopted the Chinese phonetic transliteration as a substitute, making it popular again. Sometimes used alone, sometimes together with "图样" to form the phrase "图样图森破," used to mock someone's naivety or one's own simplicity.

Example: Too young to understand the rules of the game, still 图样图森破.

开挂 (kai gua)

Explanation: Describes someone who can reach levels that ordinary people cannot, especially technical experts, doing things at astonishing speed, like using cheats in games.Origin: Comes from gaming terminology. "Cheating" refers to game users using third-party cheat programs to make their characters play automatically in order to get high scores. It allows users who cheat to have greater attack power and gain experience points faster than other users.

Example: Throughout history, there have been masters among the people. Youngster, are you cheating?

Kǔbī (miserable)

Explanation: Painful, helplessly forced.

Origin: The term "kǔbī" originally comes from Buddhist scriptures, such as '夫苦逼不生,是谓至乐.' It was mostly used as self-mockery, indicating that one's life is miserable. Some also say that kǔbī represents a state of being—a sadness that does not harm.

Example: If love could transcend space, time, gender, or zodiac signs, how many miserable people would there be?

Liàngxiā (blinding)

Explanation: Generally used to describe content that is too shocking or exaggerated, making it unbearable for viewers.

Origin: Derived from internal language of World of Warcraft players, often used alongside terms like "hardened pay-to-win dog eyes," "titanium steel dog eyes," or "titanium alloy dog eyes" to describe an extreme level of shock or absurdity.

Example: Non-mainstream hairstyle, blinding.

Nìtiān (against heaven / extraordinary)

Explanation: Refers to actions that go against the natural order or expectation, beyond what ordinary people can imagine, outside the normal range.

Origin: From the video Teacher Video Happy VS Zhuge Liang in which the character Blue-Haired Lord says: 'This time I am going against heaven!'

Example: TV is really extraordinary; such an ad can even air.

Tǎngqiāng (taking the blame / hit even while lying down)

Explanation: Even if lying down, one cannot avoid the bullet and still gets hit.

Origin: From Stephen Chow's classic action comedy Fight Back to School: 'Even lying down, I get shot!'

Example: Afraid of being hit by a stray bullet, just afraid that even lying here, the bullet won't hit.

Zhǒngme (how / what happened)

Explanation: A homophone of "怎么" (how).

Origin: Shandong Zaozhuang dialect, where locals pronounce "怎么" as "肿么." In the popular TV show Love Apartment Season 2, Tang Youyou made the phrase '你肿么了' popular online.

Example: How could this happen?

Jiécāo (principles / moral integrity)

Explanation: Represents principles, sense of justice.Chastity is often used together with 'none'; 'no chastity' represents a person acting without principles, completely lacking in morality, willing to go to any lengths to achieve their goals.

Origin: It comes from the Japanese doujin manga 'Nishikichō', where a character named Reimu regards money as life and uses any means to achieve her goals. Hence, the character's name was translated into Chinese as 'no chastity'. Later, it was widely used to express contempt for people with no limits.

Example sentence: Actually, I used to have some chastity, but since you started following me, it's all shattered.

Hún dàn

Explanation: Internet slang, homophonous with 'bastard', indicating a bad person.

Origin: The original term 'bastard' can be easily blocked, so it was later phonetically transliterated as 'hún dàn'.

Example sentence: Customer, you unlucky bastard, deleting my Weibo all day long, is this fun for you?

Total defeat

Explanation: A derivative internet term, meaning to overwhelmingly defeat the other party, leaving them unable to resist.

Origin: First used in NBA sports events to compare the strengths or results of competing teams.

Example sentence: Drogba can totally defeat various domestic defenses in the Chinese Super League with just 50% of his strength.

Brain-dead fan

Explanation: Usually refers to fans who lose rationality while pursuing celebrities and act in ways that most people cannot understand. Increasingly used for self-mockery, calling oneself a brain-dead fan of someone to show love for an admired figure.

Origin: On forums, celebrity fans often provoke each other or start fights over minor issues. Some people, due to immature language and methods, are called 'brain-dead fans'.

Example sentence: Being a brain-dead fan is actually not bad at all.

Editor's note: With the ever-growing online culture, more intriguing terms will emerge. Folks, now that you understand these, will you still be puzzled while chatting with someone or reading online novels? Don't treat them as typos!