Introduction: 

Welcome to this week’s chat! We’ll swap our favorite memes, decode the latest viral slang, and figure out why certain jokes explode across Chinese and global internet spaces. Bring your best GIFs, emojis, and stories—let’s laugh and learn together!

Vocabulary list: https://zh.purasbar.com/post.php?t=33066

1. Meme Translation Challenge: Share a trending Chinese meme (e.g., “退退退”), explain its literal meaning, then attempt an English version that keeps the humor—does it work?  

2. Viral Formats: Compare the “Two-Sentence Horror” trend on Weibo vs. Twitter—how are the punchlines structured differently?  

3. Emoji Evolution: How has 🐸 transformed from “sad frog” to “lying flat” in Chinese chats, and what does 🇺🇸 “Uncle Sam pointing” mean in global contexts?  

4. Platform DNA: Why do cat videos explode on Bilibili while dance challenges dominate Douyin—what does each platform reward?  

5. Cross-Cultural Borrowing: Trace how “Karen” memes traveled into Chinese social media—what local stereotypes replaced the original?  

6. Time-to-Viral: How fast can a hashtag like #Citywalk go from Xiaohongshu to Instagram—does translation speed or cultural fit matter more?  

7. Meme Economics: Who profits when a sticker of “TikTok’s pink cat” becomes paid WeChat merch—creators, platforms, or both?  

8. Censorship & Creativity: Give an example of a meme that disappeared overnight; how did netizens remix it to keep the joke alive?  

9. Inside Jokes & Identity: Do you feel more “Chinese,” “global,” or “netizen” when you use certain memes—why?  

10. Future Formats: Predict the next meme medium—will it be AI-generated voice clips, AR filters, or something else—and how would you caption it in both languages?

Welp, to be honest I don't like many memes, because some of them are vulgar

And I think every year many new memes emerge, they make me dazzling and dizzy

Emoji Evolution: How has 🐸 transformed from “sad frog” to “lying flat” in Chinese chats, and what does 🇺🇸 “Uncle Sam pointing” mean in global contexts?  

Perhaps this emoji give many people a feel of sadness. And when many people are sad, they will be meanwhile lazy and want to lie flat

Inside Jokes & Identity: Do you feel more “Chinese,” “global,” or “netizen” when you use certain memes—why?  
Maybe; I even use Internet memes in everyday life unconsciously!
But the reason is inexplictable, perhaps partly because of my vanity. In addition, the meme is a essence setting some groups apart from others, right?

1. Meme Translation Challenge: Share a trending Chinese meme (e.g., “退退退”), explain its literal meaning, then attempt an English version that keeps the humor—does it work?  
It is really hard for me.
Prosody is one of main obstacles. For example, "Liang mian bao(bread) jia zhi shi(cheese)" can be translated to "two pieces of bread clip cheese". But It's not homonynic in English so that it seems odd and meanless!
Also cultural background aprevent a perfect translation too, like "two and a half years".
Some appear to be easy to translated like "oh yes yes yes", but it pronounces unnatural in English.

8. Censorship & Creativity: Give an example of a meme that disappeared overnight; how did netizens remix it to keep the joke alive? 

I‘d like to take “感恩”（Gratitude）as an example. Due to "false direction of public opinion", at the beginning of this meme, it was easily banned by the official. But people tried to use different but similar shapes of Chinese characters to replace it. （e.g 感恩→咸因→戌大）