Chinese phrases find their way into Urban Dictionary
Print Edition
ENGLISH speakers may soon be saying “you can you up, no can no bb” in response to criticism.
The phrase, a translation from Chinese meaning “if you can do better, you do it, if not, stop grumbling,” was recorded in Urban Dictionary in April, winning more than 3,000 votes.
The 2013 Chinese buzzword “no zuo no die” has also been included in the online dictionary with the explanation, “this phrase is of Chinglish origin. Means if you don’t do stupid things, they won’t come back and bite you in the ass.”
Urban Dictionary is a web-based dictionary established in 1999 that now contains more than 7.7 million definitions, many for slang, buzzwords, and other words or phrases not found in standard dictionaries.
Submissions by users are approved by volunteer editors, and new words or phrases can only be published with approval from more than half of the editors.
Other Chinglish words or phrases in the dictionary include “gelivable” (awesome or amazing), “people mountain people sea” (very crowded), “zhuangbility” (boastfulness), and “shability” (foolishness).
Last year, the Wall Street Journal wrote about “Chinese dama,” or middle-aged women obsessed with buying gold, and the BBC introduced the word “tuhao,” meaning rich people with poor taste, to the audience.
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