See China

The popularity of Chinese language classes is at an all-time high, as more and more people sign up to xuexi putonghua (study Mandarin). However, China’s 400 million Internet users have some phrases that new students won’t find in any dictionary or language textbook.

Just as the development and increasing use of the Internet put words only formerly used by technology professionals or geeks into  mainstream English, so has Chinese adapted to describe the new situations and lifestyle of a wired world.

One of the most distinctive phrases is qiang shafa, or “grabbing the sofa.” This describes the first person to leave a comment on a new blog post.

How is commenting on a blog post like sitting on the couch? One netizen said it this way: “the first person who sits on a sofa is always the most comfortable. Similarly, the first person to leave a comment on a post generally sets the tone for the discussion that follows.”

More commonly now, old words are given new meanings. A very simple example of this is the use of “88″ during online chats. In English, this would be pronounced “eighty-eight.” In Chinese, the number eight is said ba. Saying it twice would be “ba ba.” Over time, this has become shorthand for “bye bye,” commonly used even by Chinese who speak little or no English, and now serving to end a chat or announce the user’s departure.

From classical Chinese comes the word jiong. In its proper context, the word, little used in modern vernacular, means “bright.” However, it is used in an entirely different way online. Because the character resembles an unhappy face, it has taken on the meaning of “sad” or “frustrated.”

So popular has the character’s use become that it has moved from the online world into the physical, with some companies using the phrase in their marketing, and some clothing and bag designers incorporating it into their products.

Other symbols can be ascribed meaning based on some combination of their Chinese meaning, their spelling in English or in hanyu pinyin, China’s official romanization system. For example, the phrase “FB” can mean both “food and beverage,” suggesting a date to meet for a meal (“Want to FB tomorrow evening?”), drawing on the first letter from an English phrase. It can also refer to the Chinese phrase fubai, or corruption, with which excessive spending on food and drink is sometimes associated.

Some words have no particular meaning at all in their original context, but are now imbued with netizen fervor. Someone who likes to shai shows off their things, usually some type of collection, or something newly acquired. A few Internet users who have particularly good taste or are quick to buy new items or gadgets find large followings on their blogs, as the audience waits to see photos of each new product uploaded.

Learning Chinese may be challenging, but to take those skills online and use them in Chinese chatrooms and instant messaging — now that’s fluency.

So, anyone want to grab the sofa?