Top Chinese Internet memes of 2010

From Chinese news service Xinhua, the top ten Chinese Internet memes of 2010:

3. On 2010 November 2nd, the country’s National Development and Reform Commission publicly released the results of their October urban food retail price monitoring. Amongst the 31 products it monitored, nearly 80% of the product prices had increased. With the continuous increase of food prices, new words from “蒜你狠” [a pun involving the word for garlic and the phrase “you are hateful/ruthless”] to “姜你军” [a pun involving the word for ginger and the phrase “checkmate”], and again from “糖高宗” [sugar] to “油你涨” [cooking oil] and “苹神马” [apples (notice that this pun has an extra meaning involving the “shen ma” buzzword too)], were created one after another. The continuous increase of prices also gave birth to the “”海豚族” (海量囤积一族)” [“hai tun zu” (hai liang tun ji yi zu), literally “dolphin tribe/people” (meaning people who hoarded to avoid price increases)]. Just like dominoes knocked over, apart from agricultural product prices collectively increasing, the prices of related food, clothing, housing, transportation [daily necessities] were also gradually rising, the prices affecting everyone’s lives.

At the same time as people cut costs, they also discover new ways to do things. Group buys became a new style of purchasing. Several websites promoted “today’s group buy” products with prices up to 90% off, attracting internet shoppers. As an emerging e-commerce model, group buys refer to users going through consumer-organized groups, specialized group buying websites, or business organized groups to increase their bargaining power with business and gain large discounts on products. This has attracted the attention of consumers, manufacturers, and even capital markets.

2010′s Top 10 Chinese Internet Buzzwords & Catchphrases

(via Beyond the Beyond)