Chinese meme glossary

Every term in the library on one page: characters, pinyin, the literal translation, what it actually means, and when people send it.

Term	Pinyin	Literally	Actually means	When to use
熊猫头	xióngmāo tóu	panda head	A borrowed human facial expression pasted onto a panda's head — the universal canvas for jokes, roasts and reactions in Chinese chats.	Send it when words are not enough: sarcasm, celebration, despair — the face you choose does the talking.
奶龙	nǎilóng	milk dragon	A chubby little yellow dragon character whose cute, blank-faced stickers and clips are shared everywhere, especially by younger users.	Reactions, greetings and gentle cuteness — the friendly sticker you send when you want zero conflict.
滑稽	huájī	the funny face	A classic smirking yellow-face emoji long used on Chinese forums to mean 'I am joking — or am I?'	Light trolling, playful sarcasm and deniable jokes. Tone depends entirely on context.
呵呵	hēhe	hehe	Literally a soft chuckle. In modern chat it often reads as a polite, chilly brush-off rather than real laughter.	Use with care: among close friends it can be banter; to a stranger it frequently lands as dismissive.
哈哈哈	hāhāhā	hahaha	Rows of 哈 are how Chinese chats actually laugh — the more characters, the harder the laugh.	Everyday laughter. Three is normal; eight means you genuinely lost it.
吃瓜	chīguā	eating melon	Watching online drama from the sidelines, snack in hand, with no intention of getting involved.	Comment sections, group chats and anywhere a spectacle is unfolding.
躺平	tǎngpíng	lying flat	Opting out of the rat race — doing the comfortable minimum instead of striving endlessly.	Self-deprecating posts about rest, quitting overtime culture and choosing peace.
摸鱼	mōyú	touching fish (slacking)	Slacking off at work while appearing busy — the fish is touched, the report is not written.	Workplace humour: slow afternoons, long meetings, Friday energy.
打工人	dǎgōngrén	the working person	A proud, exhausted self-label for ordinary employees everywhere — 'just a working person'.	Morning-commute posts, payday jokes and solidarity between tired colleagues.
内卷	nèijuǎn	involution	Competition so intense that everyone works harder just to stay in the same place.	School and office humour about exams, rankings and ever-rising bars.
破防	pòfáng	defence broken	Originally from gaming: the moment something — a comment, a scene, a bill — gets through your defences and hits you emotionally.	Reactions to touching videos, brutal honesty and unexpected expenses alike.
栓Q	shuān Q	tied-up Q (thank-you pun)	A playful mispronunciation of English 'thank you' that became a sarcastic way to say 'thanks a lot — I guess'.	Mock gratitude when someone's 'help' made things worse.
芭比Q了	bābǐ Q le	barbecued — done for	A pun on 'barbecue' meaning 'it's over, I'm cooked'. Popularised by gaming streams.	Moments of total, comic doom: missed trains, dead phones, forgotten deadlines.
红包	hóngbāo	red packet	A red envelope of money given for luck — and, in chat apps, a digital one anyone can grab in group chats.	New Year greetings, celebrations and the fastest way to wake up a silent group chat.
恭喜发财	gōngxǐ fācái	wishing you prosperity	The classic Lunar New Year blessing: may you get rich. Often paired with an outstretched-hand joke for a red packet.	New Year messages to family, elders and anyone you hope sends a 红包 back.
666	liùliùliù	six six six	Gaming slang that crossed into everyday use: smooth, skilled, impressive — the Chinese internet's applause.	Replies to great plays, clever fixes and impressive performances of any kind.
给力	gěilì	giving power	Supportive and impressive — something (or someone) that really delivers.	Praise, encouragement and thank-you messages with energy.
咸鱼	xiányú	salted fish	A self-mock label for someone with no ambition left today — happily lying there like a salted fish.	Lazy-day posts and gentle self-deprecation among friends.
佛系	fóxì	Buddha-style	A chill, go-with-the-flow attitude: whatever happens, happens.	Queues, sold-out tickets and minor chaos — the shrug, as a philosophy.
锦鲤	jǐnlǐ	koi fish	Koi stand for luck, so sharing a koi image is sharing a wish: may the luck rub off on me.	Before exams, interviews and lotteries — repost for good fortune.
奥利给	àolìgěi	give it power (cheer)	A streamer's rallying cry that became a general-purpose shout of encouragement.	Hype replies, gym posts and cheering anyone on, sincerely or ironically.
冲鸭	chōng yā	charge, duck!	A cute corruption of 冲呀 ('charge!') — the duck makes it softer and funnier.	Cheering friends into exams, launches and Monday mornings.
干饭人	gànfànrén	rice-eating person	Someone whose true passion is the next meal. Work is temporary; 干饭 (eating properly) is forever.	Lunch countdowns, food photos and canteen reviews.
退退退	tuì tuì tuì	back, back, back	From a viral street clip of an auntie stamping and waving bad luck away — now used to repel anything unwanted.	Bad weather, spam, extra work: point the meme at it and push it away.
格局打开	géjú dǎkāi	open up the格局 (bigger picture)	Advice — sincere or mocking — to zoom out and think bigger instead of sweating the small stuff.	Teasing friends who overthink, and genuine perspective checks alike.
emo了	emo le	feeling emo	Borrowed English: feeling down, sentimental or quietly overwhelmed, usually said with a half-smile.	Late-night posts, rainy days and post-exam reflections.
卷王	juǎnwáng	king of involution	The one person who out-competes everyone — up earliest, studying latest, raising the bar for all.	Teasing (or admiring) the hardest grinder in class or office.
学霸 / 学渣	xuébà / xuézhā	study overlord / study渣	The twin labels of Chinese student humour: the 学霸 masters everything; the 学渣 has accepted fate.	Exam-season jokes, grade reveals and study-group banter.
咖波 Capoo	Kābō (Capoo)	Capoo the cat	A round blue cat character from a Taiwanese creator, hugely popular as stickers across the Chinese-speaking internet.	Everyday cute reactions — Capoo's blank stare covers most moods.
线条小狗	xiàntiáo xiǎogǒu	line dog	Minimal line-drawn dog stickers (a white pup and friends) that flooded chat sticker packs in recent years.	Soft, friendly greetings and low-stakes reactions — maximum cuteness, minimum message.

How this glossary is written

Translations aim for the meaning a native speaker would act on, not the dictionary gloss — where the two differ （呵呵 is the classic case), the “actually means” column wins. Origin claims are hedged on purpose: sticker culture moves too fast and remixes too hard for most precise origin stories to be trustworthy.

Want the finder instead? Search the memes by English meaning, pinyin or Chinese.