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Chinese Internet slang: 打酱油

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The Chinese term "打酱油 (dǎ jiàng yóu)" literally means "to buy soy sauce". "打" is a verb here, meaning "to buy or to get" and "酱油" is a kind of liquid flavoring made from soybean. Now it figuratively means "something is none of one's business and one will not bother to make any comments on it".

“打酱油(dǎ jiàng yóu)”的字面意思为“去买酱油”。打:动词,意为“买”,“领取”,用于表示特定商品的购买活动; 酱油:一种由大豆为主原料制造的液态油类调味品。而现在,由于网络的流行,“打酱油”被赋予了新的意思,用于表达某事与自己无关,自己不做评论。


For example:

例句:

孩子大了,会打酱油了。

hái zǐ dà le,huì dǎ jiàng yóu le

The child is old enough to buy some soy sauce by himself. He is old enough to take care of it himself. 

不关我的事,我是来打酱油的。

bú guān wǒ de shì ,wǒ shì lái dǎ jiàng yóu de

It’s none of my business, I am just a passer-by.


The expression was coined by Chinese netizens. The story can be traced back to 2008, when a man in Guangzhou was asked by a journalist from Guangdong TV on the street to give his opinion on the sex scandal involving Hong Kong star Edison Chen (陈冠希,chén guàn xī). Unwilling to make any comments, the man answered, "It is none of my business. I am just a passer-by out to get some soy sauce." After watching the video, the netizens thought the man had avoided the sensitive topic wittily by using the expression "打酱油". Since then, the slang term has been widely adopted by netizens to avoid talking about touchy issues. 

“打酱油”一词为中国网民创造。具体典故为:2008年初,中国广东电视台记者在街头采访市民关于当时轰动娱乐圈的“艳照门”事件时,一位不愿作出评论的市民对记说:“关我什么事,我是出来打酱油的。”一些网民收看了该节目后,认为“打酱油”很适合用于网上交流时回避敏感话题的情况,于是该词迅速流行。


"打酱油" , an expression mostly used online is informal and shouldn't be used in daily communication, for it is beyond the understanding of those who are not netizens. It is often used for fun mostly on online bulletin boards or online forums. 

这是一个网络上交流使用的词汇,不能用于正式的书面语言和日常交流,因为它并不被不参与互联网活动的人所了解。打酱油一般用于调侃的语境,尤其是网络公告板(BBS)和论坛中出现最多。

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2016-06-21

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