Buzzword: 社会性死亡 social death
社会性死亡 shèhuìxìng sǐwáng
social death
Social death is often used by Chinese netizens to describe extreme embarrassment when someone make a fool of oneself.
In the book “The Undertaking,” Booker Prize-winning writer Thomas Lynch divided death into different categories. “When we die to those around us,” he writes, “an end we might call our social death.”
Later, social death is often used by Chinese netizens to describe extreme embarrassment when someone make a fool of oneself. In this case, people use the term to laugh at their own foolishness that they would rather be dead instantly to those who are close to them.
In recent years, the meaning of social death has been extended to “socially public execution,” referring to breaking off certain relations and even, social exclusion. Whether spontaneous or imposed, it is usually resulted by controversial or notorious acts, such as infidelity, sexual assault and abuse of power. A dozen issues of “social death” made headlines this year and drew wide public concerns on malicious slander and cyber bullying.
有人偷拍那位女士，将照片放上网并恶意中伤她，导致她社会性死亡，至今找不到工作。
Yǒurén tōupāi nàwèi nǚshì, jiāng zhàopiān fàngshàng wǎng bìng èyì zhòngshāng tā, dǎozhì tā shèhuìxìng sǐwáng, zhìjīn zhǎobúdào gōngzuò.
The woman was socially declared dead after someone secretly took a photo of her, put it online and maliciously slander her. She couldn’t even land a job today.
气氛组 qìfènzǔ
vibe builders
An online joke called those who work hard on their laptops in cafes with a cup of coffee by the hand as “vibe builders of the cafe.”
Originally, “气氛组” refers to those vibe builders in bars and clubs to warm up the party and urge consumers to buy more drinks. The phrase created a buzz recently when an online joke calling those who work hard on their laptops in cafes with a cup of coffee by the hand as “vibe builders of the cafe.”
It now becomes a buzzword and can be used in various occasions, though more frequently making fun of those who pretend to work very hard yet actually don’t put much effort.
欢迎加入健身房气氛组：运动5分钟，自拍两小时。
Huānyíng jiārù jiànshēnfáng qìfènzǔ: Yùndòng wǔ fēnzhōng, zìpāi liǎng xiǎoshí.
Welcome to join the vibe builders of the gym — Work out for five minutes and spend two hours taking selfies.
