"囧" (jiong) is an ancient Chinese character that originally means the "light shining through a window." Today, however, "囧" has taken on a completely different meaning; Chinese netizens use it to express embarrassment or bad mood. The character looks like a sad emoticon and the "八" and "口" inside the character looks like a person's eyebrows and mouth. Just by looking at the character, one can imagine someone who is helpless and depressed.
Today, "囧" is one of the most popular words among the younger generation Chinese, especially among the Internet users. All of a sudden, "囧" websites and books are popping up everywhere. People even found "jiong" style buildings in Chongqing. So, whenever you see the word "囧" used on the Internet, it most likely means: stupefied, depressed, chill, and embarrassed. Here is a sentence that uses "囧":
今天好 囧 啊, 下车时才发现没有带钱包.
What bad luck, I found out I left my wallet on the taxi after the taxi has left.
Another ancient Chinese word that took on a different meaning today is the word "槑" (méi), a variation of the word "梅" (méi) which means plum.
The character's new meaning was created by netizens to describe someone "dumb, dull, and stupid." At first glance, the word "槑" has nothing to do with stupidity, but if we break the word down, we see the word "呆" (dāi ), which means stupid. So the idea is that if one "呆" means stupid, two combined means twice as stupid.
By looking at this word, we could imagine two stupid people standing side by side up to no good. Here is a sentence that uses "槑":
他太 槑 了, 上次把手机掉到游泳池, 这次又掉到厕所里了.
He is so stupid that he dropped his cell phone twice, once in the swimming pool and another time in the toilet.
"囧" and "槑" represents how the new Chinese Internet culture is changing the way people understand and use ancient characters. Instead of using the character's original meaning, people are using the character's hieroglyphically features to express moods and feelings. Can you find some other words like them? What other characters in Chinese has undergone similar metamorphosis?
Tags:Chinese emoticons
2 years, 5 months ago
it's so funny