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1. Introduction
In the times full of infinite possibilities, our life can't avert the influence of Internet. Each of the Cyber catchwords relates closely to people's life. The seemingly inexplicable cyber catchwords are the best record of your life and the most truthful reflection of real society. Understanding cyber catchwords is a shortcut to find out what's happening and what the culture is heading for in China.
1.1. Definition of culture
As American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language explains, culture is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Culture is a kind of social phenomenon and the production in the long process of creation. It is also a historical phenomenon and the deposit in the human history. To be exact, culture is a nation's or people's history, geography, social customs, human relationships, way of life, literature, art, formula of behavior, way of thinking, values, etc. Culture can't be replaced by anything in society.
1.2. Definition of cyberculture
Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged, or is emerging, from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of various social phenomena associated with the Internet and other new forms of network communication, such as online communities, online multi-player gaming, and email usage. Cyberculture can also be named information culture. Cyberculture's formation and development which are the inevitable outcome that human society consistently pursues self's culture embody the increasing fruition of cyber media.Cyber information is unique and abundant, so people tend to collect it with personal affection. However, cyber catchwords reflecting different aspect of life offer us an extraordinary opportunity to understand and catch the trend of popular expressions.
2. With the development of Internet, netizens are showing and spreading their talents to create some catchwords. In the meantime they are also collecting popular expressions through various ways and developing them into kind of cyberculture. To partly understand the essence of the expressions recognized by a wide range of Internet users, some popular representatives are picked.
2.1. Humor can be anywhere with the spirits of Entertainment.
"Money is not a problem." comes from a comedy acted by Zhao Benshan, Xiaoshenyang, etc. at Spring Festival Gala. Xiao Shenyang as an errenzhuan (a type of duet opera popular in Northeast China) actor becomes well-known and some lines in the comedy get prevalent. Zhao Benshan's comedies never lack classical lines. With Xiao Shenyang's assist, the lines in this comedy become more vivid than ever before. After the spring festival, consumers and waiters frequently use "There's really no this dish." "There can be this." "Money is not a problem." Obviously, people like the way of humor and want to express themselves in a humorous way.
2.2. Loneliness is nibbling netizens due to the use of Internet and lack of face-to-face communications.
" What brother is smoking is not a cigarette, but loneliness!" comes from a picture of a man of non-mainstream eating noodles with the caption, "What brother is eating is not noodles but loneliness." published in a BBS. Since then, netizens began to imitate this sentence structure, and then we can find similar expressions in almost every major BBS as well as local BBS. Loneliness even becomes many people's cyber name, as if anything could be converted into loneliness. It shows that people's heart needs solace. Loneliness is kind of pandemic. People are seeking the medicine to eradicate it.
2.3. PC games attract too many young people and make many of them live an empty life.
"Jia Junpeng, your mother wants you to go home to have some food." comes froma post titled like that without any content in it in a game BBS. Jia Junpeng is only a fictitious person. Within only several hours,390671 netizens browsed it and there were 17,000 replies, and it attracted 7,100,000 clicks and 300,000 replies in the following day. This expression also sets an example of greeting online, and appealed to people from all walks of life and media to make deep analyses as well.
2.4. Optimism exists in the heart of all people no matter what they meet and how difficult it is.
"Life is like a tea table, with bitter cups placed all over it." comes from Yi Zhongtian's word "tragedy" at CCTV's Lecture Room. "cups" has the similar pronunciation with "tragedy" in Chinese. Netizens began to use it as their cyber names. Actually, this sentence structure comes from Zhang Ailing's writing, "Life is like a beautiful gown, with lice crawling all over it." Netizens also created several similar expressions with assonance. When people have no choice but to stand, they can show their feeling optimistically in a way of self-mockery with Chinese characters "cups" in stead of "tragedy".
2.5. Confidence originates from people's attitudes towards life.
"Don't be obsessed with brother. He is only a legend." comes from a spoof post "Don't be obsessed with brother." It's obviously narcissism, but it enlivens our life. This expression even appears in a song by Xi Shenyang.
2.6. High housing price has incurred many social problems and to exchange sex for housing seems shameless but evokes sympathy.
"My debts of gratitude have been repaid with my body!" comes from a teleplay named "Dwelling Narrowness" which tells a story about how white collars hanker for an apartment and how they live though all the troubles as mortgage slaves. This teleplay probes into some social topics, and its lines are in, humorous, witty and close to life. Unfortunately it vanished from the view on account of some reasons.
2.7. People are learning to take it easy and treat seriousness with their banter.
"What makes you unhappy? Tell us to make us happy." comes from a saying, "To live is bitter, and to be happy is hard. Therefore, lighten up. What makes you unhappy? Tell us to make us happy." You may have got the sack, but someone else may have lost his love; you may have failed in your business, but someone else may have failed to commit suicide. God can't grant all man's wishes, otherwise there would be no man left for wishes. Man can forget the misery and relieve others' pains temporarily by teasing them.
2.8. Keeping in fashion doesn't only mean following the latest fad, but also mean using the latest words.
"You are out." begins to be a popular expression just like "in" did years ago. Some new terms like "micro-blog" come forth continually. If a person doesn't know them, he'll be behind the times. Numerous youths following the latest fad use this byword just for showing that they are "in" or despising those behind the times. However some others do feel bad about the use of this word owing to the contempt implied in it.
2.9. Material comforts were not and will never be the only pursuit of people.
"Lei Feng does good without seeking recognition, but he records everything in his diary." comes from a post, too. Lei Feng was a celebrity propagandized by the government and the media for his commitment and sacrifice for the construction of China. Chairman Mao called on people learning from Lei Feng because he set a good example for society. Since then "Lei Feng's Spirit" was widely known. The post "Why does Lei Feng do good without seeking recognition, but record everything in his diary?" makes Lei Feng popular again. Answers to this question are quite fantastic and some are even sidesplitting. In such a materialized society, mentioning him is just a call for people to seek some kind of spiritual consolation.
2.10. Injustice and darkness make people angry and they turn to Internet to express their fury in a special way.
"It cannot be explained in detail." is an official's reply to the reporter when being interviewed in a TV program. Details and truth needed should have been publicized according to the policy——to make government affairs public. Nevertheless there's still a long way to go for the goal of making government affairs public. Everybody learning the news knows what's behind the talk. Unfortunately, people just can do nothing. Therefore ordinary people have no choice but to play jokes on it and make fun of it. This sentence was even translated into different foreign languages and used as a way to reply online.
3. Conclusion
Internet offers people a great opportunity to obtain information and express their opinions. Therefore people tend to understand what's happening comprehensively. People's thoughts are influenced not only by the traditional culture but also by the cyberculture. Cyberculture is a real and vivid reflection of people's thoughts.
References:
[1]范曉红.网络信息文化:花开谁家[J].图书情报论坛,1999,(4):9-11.
[2]Manovich,Lev."New Media From Borges to HTML."The New Media Reader.Ed.Noah Wardrip-Fruin&Nick Montfort.Cambridge,Massachusetts,2003:13-25.
In the times full of infinite possibilities, our life can't avert the influence of Internet. Each of the Cyber catchwords relates closely to people's life. The seemingly inexplicable cyber catchwords are the best record of your life and the most truthful reflection of real society. Understanding cyber catchwords is a shortcut to find out what's happening and what the culture is heading for in China.
1.1. Definition of culture
As American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language explains, culture is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. Culture is a kind of social phenomenon and the production in the long process of creation. It is also a historical phenomenon and the deposit in the human history. To be exact, culture is a nation's or people's history, geography, social customs, human relationships, way of life, literature, art, formula of behavior, way of thinking, values, etc. Culture can't be replaced by anything in society.
1.2. Definition of cyberculture
Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged, or is emerging, from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of various social phenomena associated with the Internet and other new forms of network communication, such as online communities, online multi-player gaming, and email usage. Cyberculture can also be named information culture. Cyberculture's formation and development which are the inevitable outcome that human society consistently pursues self's culture embody the increasing fruition of cyber media.Cyber information is unique and abundant, so people tend to collect it with personal affection. However, cyber catchwords reflecting different aspect of life offer us an extraordinary opportunity to understand and catch the trend of popular expressions.
2. With the development of Internet, netizens are showing and spreading their talents to create some catchwords. In the meantime they are also collecting popular expressions through various ways and developing them into kind of cyberculture. To partly understand the essence of the expressions recognized by a wide range of Internet users, some popular representatives are picked.
2.1. Humor can be anywhere with the spirits of Entertainment.
"Money is not a problem." comes from a comedy acted by Zhao Benshan, Xiaoshenyang, etc. at Spring Festival Gala. Xiao Shenyang as an errenzhuan (a type of duet opera popular in Northeast China) actor becomes well-known and some lines in the comedy get prevalent. Zhao Benshan's comedies never lack classical lines. With Xiao Shenyang's assist, the lines in this comedy become more vivid than ever before. After the spring festival, consumers and waiters frequently use "There's really no this dish." "There can be this." "Money is not a problem." Obviously, people like the way of humor and want to express themselves in a humorous way.
2.2. Loneliness is nibbling netizens due to the use of Internet and lack of face-to-face communications.
" What brother is smoking is not a cigarette, but loneliness!" comes from a picture of a man of non-mainstream eating noodles with the caption, "What brother is eating is not noodles but loneliness." published in a BBS. Since then, netizens began to imitate this sentence structure, and then we can find similar expressions in almost every major BBS as well as local BBS. Loneliness even becomes many people's cyber name, as if anything could be converted into loneliness. It shows that people's heart needs solace. Loneliness is kind of pandemic. People are seeking the medicine to eradicate it.
2.3. PC games attract too many young people and make many of them live an empty life.
"Jia Junpeng, your mother wants you to go home to have some food." comes froma post titled like that without any content in it in a game BBS. Jia Junpeng is only a fictitious person. Within only several hours,390671 netizens browsed it and there were 17,000 replies, and it attracted 7,100,000 clicks and 300,000 replies in the following day. This expression also sets an example of greeting online, and appealed to people from all walks of life and media to make deep analyses as well.
2.4. Optimism exists in the heart of all people no matter what they meet and how difficult it is.
"Life is like a tea table, with bitter cups placed all over it." comes from Yi Zhongtian's word "tragedy" at CCTV's Lecture Room. "cups" has the similar pronunciation with "tragedy" in Chinese. Netizens began to use it as their cyber names. Actually, this sentence structure comes from Zhang Ailing's writing, "Life is like a beautiful gown, with lice crawling all over it." Netizens also created several similar expressions with assonance. When people have no choice but to stand, they can show their feeling optimistically in a way of self-mockery with Chinese characters "cups" in stead of "tragedy".
2.5. Confidence originates from people's attitudes towards life.
"Don't be obsessed with brother. He is only a legend." comes from a spoof post "Don't be obsessed with brother." It's obviously narcissism, but it enlivens our life. This expression even appears in a song by Xi Shenyang.
2.6. High housing price has incurred many social problems and to exchange sex for housing seems shameless but evokes sympathy.
"My debts of gratitude have been repaid with my body!" comes from a teleplay named "Dwelling Narrowness" which tells a story about how white collars hanker for an apartment and how they live though all the troubles as mortgage slaves. This teleplay probes into some social topics, and its lines are in, humorous, witty and close to life. Unfortunately it vanished from the view on account of some reasons.
2.7. People are learning to take it easy and treat seriousness with their banter.
"What makes you unhappy? Tell us to make us happy." comes from a saying, "To live is bitter, and to be happy is hard. Therefore, lighten up. What makes you unhappy? Tell us to make us happy." You may have got the sack, but someone else may have lost his love; you may have failed in your business, but someone else may have failed to commit suicide. God can't grant all man's wishes, otherwise there would be no man left for wishes. Man can forget the misery and relieve others' pains temporarily by teasing them.
2.8. Keeping in fashion doesn't only mean following the latest fad, but also mean using the latest words.
"You are out." begins to be a popular expression just like "in" did years ago. Some new terms like "micro-blog" come forth continually. If a person doesn't know them, he'll be behind the times. Numerous youths following the latest fad use this byword just for showing that they are "in" or despising those behind the times. However some others do feel bad about the use of this word owing to the contempt implied in it.
2.9. Material comforts were not and will never be the only pursuit of people.
"Lei Feng does good without seeking recognition, but he records everything in his diary." comes from a post, too. Lei Feng was a celebrity propagandized by the government and the media for his commitment and sacrifice for the construction of China. Chairman Mao called on people learning from Lei Feng because he set a good example for society. Since then "Lei Feng's Spirit" was widely known. The post "Why does Lei Feng do good without seeking recognition, but record everything in his diary?" makes Lei Feng popular again. Answers to this question are quite fantastic and some are even sidesplitting. In such a materialized society, mentioning him is just a call for people to seek some kind of spiritual consolation.
2.10. Injustice and darkness make people angry and they turn to Internet to express their fury in a special way.
"It cannot be explained in detail." is an official's reply to the reporter when being interviewed in a TV program. Details and truth needed should have been publicized according to the policy——to make government affairs public. Nevertheless there's still a long way to go for the goal of making government affairs public. Everybody learning the news knows what's behind the talk. Unfortunately, people just can do nothing. Therefore ordinary people have no choice but to play jokes on it and make fun of it. This sentence was even translated into different foreign languages and used as a way to reply online.
3. Conclusion
Internet offers people a great opportunity to obtain information and express their opinions. Therefore people tend to understand what's happening comprehensively. People's thoughts are influenced not only by the traditional culture but also by the cyberculture. Cyberculture is a real and vivid reflection of people's thoughts.
References:
[1]范曉红.网络信息文化:花开谁家[J].图书情报论坛,1999,(4):9-11.
[2]Manovich,Lev."New Media From Borges to HTML."The New Media Reader.Ed.Noah Wardrip-Fruin&Nick Montfort.Cambridge,Massachusetts,2003:13-25.