About

LaoWai Lingo is an English-language field guide to the Chinese internet. Our one-page translations explain the slang, memes and hot words that show up on Weibo, Douyin, WeChat and Xiaohongshu — the words you don't find in a textbook.

Dictionaries teach you what a word means. They rarely tell you who says it, when it got popular, or why people can't stop using it. Every entry here includes the cultural context and real example sentences, so you can actually recognize the words you hear and read.

Whatever your reason — learning Chinese, following Chinese pop culture, or just staying on top of what "netizens" discuss — we write every page in plain English with pinyin and tone marks on every term.

What we cover

• Viral buzzwords and their origins
• Work and office culture language
• Gen Z slang and online formats
• Words from China's tech and AI scene
• The social conversations hiding behind the words

New words are added when they start trending. Have a word you want explained? Contact us.