Chinese expressions for obsessive fans

Fanboys abound, and for some reason this zeitgeisty term is often reserved for fans of Macs. Now, just why anyone would obsess over a computer is anyone's guess. Professing a preference is understandable, but becoming a bona fide fan Perhaps I'm just not geeky enough. And, of course, the Chinese have their own slang to describe all manner of obsessive fans too.

粉丝比比皆是。由于某种原因，这个富有时代精神的术语通常是指苹果电脑的粉丝。现在，对于为何所有的人都痴迷于电脑的原因仁者见仁。表达自己的偏好是可以理解的，但我还没有蠢到要成为一位虔诚的粉丝的程度，可能我还做不到那么极品。毋庸置疑，中文当中也有很多的词汇用于描述各式各样的狂热者。

To start, we have the 粉丝 (fěnsī, fans), literally "rice noodles". It can be used to denote a fan of pretty much anything, but as a slangy neologism, it's more likely to be deployed when talking about pop culture and celebrities rather than, say, those with an interest in the canon of Charles Dickens. Think K-pop stars, Justin Bieber, or David Beckham—all likely to have considerable fensi regardless of their artistic merit.

首先是“粉丝（fěnsī）”，可字面译为 “rice noodles”，引申为对某种事情非常热爱的人。粉丝是一个新词汇，通常指那些对流行文化和明星非常狂热的人，而非指热爱查尔斯.狄更斯等传统名人的人。无论他们贡献的艺术价值如何，韩国流行音乐明星、贾斯丁.比伯和大卫.贝克汉姆等都有着大量的粉丝。

Next up, we have the 黑粉 (hēifěn, literally "black fans"). Hei fen are not really fans at all, but anti-fans more than anything. These are the folk who will follow a particular celebrity to simply, as the English would say, take the piss out of them—or, troll them, to use the parlance of our times. If familiarity breeds contempt, celebrities are just too bloody familiar. And let's be honest, it's good fun. Some of them may be people who find folks such as Bieber or Cyrus ridiculous, funny, or ghastly, rather than contemptible. On occasion, black fans are merely expressing their endearment, albeit in a negative way, like saying they would love to throttle Ryan Gosling for having such poor taste in women while secretly lusting after the Hollywood actor. They can be a hypocritical bunch, too, like those who disseminate, say, nude pictures of Jennifer Lawrence for their pleasure only to denounce her as a wild whore later on.

其次是黑粉（hēifěn,字面意思译为 “black fans”。黑粉不是真正的粉丝，而是指反对某一名人的人。他们关注某个明星的目的只是为了嘲笑和讥讽他。若说熟悉易生轻侮，那么名人简直太熟悉不过了。说实话，这种现象非常有趣。有些黑粉认为比伯或赛勒斯可笑、滑稽且令人厌恶，但不会鄙视他们。有时，黑粉只是以消极的方式来表达他们的喜爱。例如，他们可能会说瑞恩.高斯林对女人的品味太差以至于他们想掐死他，但背地里却狂热地爱着这位好莱坞明星。

A more sophisticated relative of the genre are the 高级黑 (gāojíhēi, literally "advanced black fans"). These are more intelligent than your average "black fans", and their attacks are imbued with a sense of subtlety, irony, or refined sarcasm, satirists of sorts. Think of The Onion or, closer to home, China Daily Show.

比黑粉还更高一级的称为“高级黑” （gāojíhēi, 字面译为 “advanced black fans”）。这些人比一般的黑粉更加聪明智慧。他们通常以委婉或反讽方式进行讽刺或攻击。《洋葱》以及《中国每日秀》都是典型的代表。

Entirely different beasts are the 脑残粉 (nǎocán fěn, literally "brain-damaged fans". I don't suppose any of these fans have actual brain damage, though who is to say The naocan fen are those whose fandom reaches a level of worship and idolatry, so as to suspend any semblance of good judgment or rationality. Brain-damaged fans usually worship Korean TV shows, or at least it is Korean pop culture fans that display the most extreme symptoms of "brain damage", such as the woman who suffered a miscarriage due to binge watching a marathon of her favorite Korean show, My Love from the Star. Or, there are the girls who break up with their boyfriends for not matching up to a TV show male lead. Some girls have even threatened to kill themselves for not being given unlimited freedom to watch their favorite Korean TV shows.

“脑残粉”（nǎocán fěn, 字面译为“brain-damaged fans”）和以上几种粉丝完全不同。这些人的脑袋不是真的受到了损害。那么这些人到底是怎样的一种人呢？脑残粉是指盲目痴迷崇拜偶像以至于失去判断力和理智的人。脑残粉通常喜欢看韩剧，他们因迷恋韩国流行文化而做出极端的脑残事情。例如，一位孕妇为了追她最喜爱的韩剧《来自星星的你》而不幸流产，有些女孩因为其男友比不上韩剧里的男主角而与男友分手，甚至有些女孩因被限制看最喜爱的韩剧而威胁他人要自杀。

Whatever their obsession, be it satirical or pathological, China has a wealth of vocabulary to express the fanatic in us all.

无论他们对什么痴迷，无论这种痴迷是讥讽的还是病态的，汉语当中都有着丰富的词汇来描述我们内心的狂热。