PP

Can mean, variously, 漂漂 piāopiao (pyow pyow), “pretty”; 片片 piànpian (pyinn pyinn), “picture”; or 屁屁 pìpi (pee pee), “butt.” Thus someone could conceivably write, “I’ve seen her PP. She’s not very PP, but she’s got a nice PP.”

MM

Stands for 妹妹 meìmeì (may may), which literally means “little sister” but can generally refer to a girl or young woman. Use carefully, however, as it can also refer more euphemistically to a woman’s own “little sister”; i.e., her vagina. Can also stand for 美眉 mĕiméi (may may), which derives from meìmeì but is written with different characters that instead mean “beautiful eyebrow” and is slang for a pretty girl. Along these same lines, you’ll also see abbreviations for all the other types of people you might be talking about online: LG for 老公 lǎogōng (laow gohng), “husband”; LP for 老婆 lǎopó (laow pwuh), “wife”; GG for 哥哥 gēge (guh guh), “older brother” or any older male; JM or JMs for 姐妹们 jiěmèimen (jyih may men), “sisters”; and DD for 弟弟 dìdi (dee dee), “little brother” or any younger male. However, MM is the most common abbreviation you’ll see, given that the overwhelming majority of Chinese Internet users are male and, of course, endlessly preoccupied with MM.

ML

Make love.

PMP

Stands for 拍马屁 paīmǎpì (pie mah pee), literally “pat the horse’s butt,” and means to flatter or suck up to someone.

汗语 hànyǔ (hahn yee)

Chat room jargon, Internet slang. A play on 汉语 hànyǔ (hahn yee), which is pronounced exactly the same but means Mandarin Chinese. The only difference is that 汉 hàn (hahn) is replaced with the character for “sweat,” 汗 hàn (hahn), which is itself online jargon for feeling embarrassed, shocked, or frustrated.

51.com

“I want” dot com. “Five one” in Chinese is wǔ yào (wooh yow-which might not make sense if you’re familiar with the Taiwanese pronunciation, “one” is usually pronounced yī (eee), but mainland Chinese usually say yào instead of yī when saying the number out loud). Wǔ yào sounds a bit like the Chinese for “I want,” 我要 wŏ yào (wuh yow). So many Chinese URLs begin with the number fifty-one. Hence there is a job-search site with the URL www.51job.com (i.e., I want a job), and a credit card consultancy with the URL www.51credit.com (I want credit).

88

Bye-bye. The number eight in Chinese is bā (bah), which sounds to Chinese ears like the English word “bye.” Another variation is 886, bā bā liù (bah bah lew-the last syllable rhymes with “ew”), and is similar to 拜拜喽 bàibài lóu (bye bye low), which also means “bye-bye.”

555

The sound of crying. The number five in Chinese is wǔ (wooh), which sounds like 呜 wū (ooh), an onomatopoeic word for humming or crying. Thus 呜呜呜, or 555, represents the sound of someone crying. Insert as many fives as you deem necessary to adequately represent the volume of your tears.

3Q

Thank you. The number three in Chinese is sān (sahn) and combined with the English letter Q (sahn-cue) sounds to Chinese ears like “thank you.”

3X

Thank you. X refers to 谢谢 xièxiè (shih shih), which is the Chinese for “thank you.”

NoQ

You’re welcome. It doesn’t make sense aurally but is based on 3Q (above), meaning “thank you.”

520

I love you. “Five two zero” in Chinese is wǔ èr líng (oo er ling), which sounds somewhat similar to 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ (wuh aye nee), the Chinese for “I love you.”

1314

Means “forever” because the pronunciation of “one three one four” in Chinese, yī sān shí sì (ee sahn ee sih), sounds similar to 一生一世 yīshēng yī shì (ee shung ee shih), which means “forever.” Most commonly used in expressions of love, in particular 5201314; i.e., “I love you forever” (see above).

8147

Stands for 不要生气 bù yào shēngqì (boo yow shung chee), “don’t be angry,” because they sound similar-as do the following:

360

想念你 Xiǎngniàn nǐ (shyahng nyinn nee), “miss you.”

246

饿死了 É sǐ le (uh sih luh), “I’m hungry.”

7456

气死我了 Qìsǐwǒle (chee sih wuh luh), “I’m so angry!”

GL

Short for “girl love,” referring to lesbians or lesbianism.

BL

Short for “boy love,” referring to gay men or homosexuality.

MF

Stands for 麻烦 máfan (ma fun), meaning “trouble” or “hassle.”

TAXI

Stands for 太可惜 tài kěxī (tie kuh she), meaning “what a pity” or “that sucks.”

FL

Stands for 发廊 fàláng (fah lahng), or “hair salon,” referring to prostitutes who work under the guise of a hairdresser. Hair salons in China that are actually brothels are usually (usually) recognizable by their pink lighting.

粉丝 fěnsī (fen sih)

Literally “vermicelli” (a type of noodle) but used online to mean “fans” because it sounds similar. Other variants include just 粉 fěn (fen) by itself and 饭 fàn (fahn), literally “rice” or “meal.”

摸我 mō wǒ (mwuh wuh)

Literally means, “touch me.” Used to say “MSN me” (i.e., chat me via MSN). MSN’s instant messaging service is immensely popular in China, and the first letter of MSN sounds to Chinese ears like the word 摸 mō (mwuh), which means “touch.”

得体 détǐ (duh tee)

Literally means “good and proper,” but because it sounds like the English word “dirty,” which has the opposite meaning, the word has been punned on and joked about to the extent that it has now taken on the alternate meaning of “someone who seems good on the outside but is actually bad on the inside.” This new usage has been popularized by the song “Dirty” by Taiwanese-American singer Lee-Hom Wang.

BT

Stands for 变态 biàntài (byinn tie), which means “perverted” or “deviant” and once referred to homosexuality, sexual fetishes, people with an abnormal fixation on violence, etc. In online culture, however, it has now taken on a joking or positive connotation; thus calling someone BT is akin to cheerfully saying something like “you pervert” or “you weirdo” to a friend, or like saying “you’re so bad” when what you really mean is that you’re impressed.

PF

Stands for 佩服 pèifú (pay foo), meaning “admire.”

赞 zàn (dzahn)

Means “to praise” and is often used online when recommending or raving about a movie, a story, etc.

94

Agreed, I agree. “Nine four” in Chinese is jǐu sì (joe sih), which sounds like the phrase 就是 jiùshì (joe shih), which means “yes” or “it’s true.”

PL

Stands for 漂亮 piàoliàng (pyow lyahng), or “pretty.”

PPMM

Stands for 漂漂妹妹 piàopiào mèimèi (pyow pyow may may), a cutesy way of saying “pretty girl.”