Year-end is just round the corner and it’s a good time to look at the top words of 2016.
These keywords were put together by the National Language Resources Monitoring and Research Center, Commercial Press and People.cn, with the idea being that they represent our collective memory of China and the world in the year 2016. Online voting is open, for participants to select a character and a keyword of the year for both the domestic and the international categories. The five 「character of the year」 nominees for the domestic category are:
嚴 (yán): 「Strict,」 which is supposed to represent the Party’s tightened policy against corrupt officials.
撩 (liáo): 「Tease, provoke, stir up」, as in the new slang words, 撩妹 (liáomèi, flirt with girls), 撩漢 (liáohàn, flirt with guys) and 強撩 (qiángliáo, clumsy flirtation). Made famous by hot online discussion topics where netizens sharing their experiences of flirting, especially the awkward ones. It’s more refined and subtle than the outdated 泡妞 (pàoniū, pick up chicks) and plots found in Korean soap operas are viewed as the apex of such art.
規 (guī): 「Regulation, rules,」 another reference to the anti-corruption movement.
播 (bō): 「Broadcast, streaming.」 2016 is the year when live video streaming or 直播 (zhībō) blossomed. Thanks to technology, nowadays anyone can directly broadcast anything, from personal shows of mundane chit-chat to more dubious activities. At least, they were able to until December 13, that is. A new regulation issued by the ministry of culture requires all web broadcast hosts to register with their real identity. But with so many broadcast apps in the market, how practical and effective this new regulation will be is still an open question.
霾 (mái): 「Smog」 is unfortunately constant on this list and it seems we will be stuck with it for a while.
A list of 10 keywords or phrases is also included, and TWOC readers may already be familiar with many of them as they have graced the pages of the magazine.