Yuanfen Posted June 30, 2011 at 04:01 PM Report Posted June 30, 2011 at 04:01 PM ***UPDATE*** . Check out the Cheng & Tsui Facebook pageand tell us what kind of 山寨东西 you have!--- 大家好！ One of the best parts of living in a dorm with Chinese students was picking up slang! Just as I've come to realize how much English slang I use on a daily basis, it was fun, and at some times frustrating, to hear how much slang my Chinese roommate and friends used. I've decided to take my growing love of Chinese Slang and produce a Chinese Slang Series with Cheng & Tsui, where I'm currently interning. of Lesson 1: 给力 (gěilì) - the most popular new Chinese word of 2010! Also, there's an accompanying blog post about the origin, usage, and variations of 给力 on the Cheng & Tsui blog.I would love to get a conversation going about Chinese slang: How many words do you know? How did you learn your slang? Any funny slang stories/experiences? 希望你们都喜欢！ 捷明 PS - For those in Chinese with no access to YouTube, I will post a Youku/Toudu version soon. Quote
Kenny同志 Posted July 1, 2011 at 03:43 AM Report Posted July 1, 2011 at 03:43 AM I stil have no idea what the word means though I've heard it many times. I am not sure whether some people who use it understand it perfectly. ;) 1 Quote
xiaocai Posted July 1, 2011 at 04:29 AM Report Posted July 1, 2011 at 04:29 AM I think it is one of those words that you don't really have to understand what exactly what it means to use it the most appropriately. Actually I think is no "the most appropriate way" to use it. Just slip it in when you see fit... Quote
HaoZhuYi Posted July 1, 2011 at 10:11 AM Report Posted July 1, 2011 at 10:11 AM My understanding is that it literally means "give strength"/"give energy" right? More colloquially, it seems to be used to mean "make an effort" or "try hard", no? You hear people saying "tai bu gei li" meaning "what a flake" or "how pathetic"/"can't be bothered". More oddly, one of my teachers told me of a Chinglish word "ungeilievable" which means something similar as far as I can tell.... Quote
Yuanfen Posted July 1, 2011 at 12:58 PM Author Report Posted July 1, 2011 at 12:58 PM As with most slang words, there's definitely no formal definition nor standard usage. In the video, we give two main definitions for 给力: 1) Cool, awesome, brilliant, great etc... basically anything you want to give affirmation for is 给力.The People’s Daily even used 给力 in this context when a lead story headline read: 江苏给力 “文化强省.” 2)The same meaning as 加油. I think most people on this forum know 加油，the word used as encouragement or wishing of good luck/energy. I'm interested to hear other definitions! Quote
ma3zi1 Posted July 1, 2011 at 04:33 PM Report Posted July 1, 2011 at 04:33 PM At CC-CEDICT, we defined it like this: 給力 = /cool/nifty/awesome/impressive/ OR /to put in extra effort/ 不給力 = /utterly disappointing/huge letdown/ OR /to not try at all/ That should be how it is in MDBG too. Quote
Yuanfen Posted July 7, 2011 at 03:49 PM Author Report Posted July 7, 2011 at 03:49 PM I love that your teacher told you "ungeilievable"! It's right up there with "niubility" and "shability." Quote
New Members smith_sheng Posted July 11, 2011 at 07:23 AM New Members Report Posted July 11, 2011 at 07:23 AM 給力"Geili”: It used to be a regional dialect meaning something is cool or supportive Quote
jbradfor Posted July 12, 2011 at 06:29 PM Report Posted July 12, 2011 at 06:29 PM Note that slow chinese had a podcast about this as well. Quote
Yuanfen Posted July 13, 2011 at 07:43 PM Author Report Posted July 13, 2011 at 07:43 PM Week 3 of the Chinese Slang Series introduces the ever funny and versatile character - 囧. Quote
BertR Posted July 13, 2011 at 08:06 PM Report Posted July 13, 2011 at 08:06 PM Yuanfen, you're link is broken. The correct link is: Quote
Yuanfen Posted July 14, 2011 at 07:04 PM Author Report Posted July 14, 2011 at 07:04 PM BertR, thank you. I've edited my link to work now. Hope you enjoyed the video! Quote
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