Chinese Slang & Business Terms Explained

内卷 describes a cycle of intense, self-defeating competition where everyone works harder but nobody gets ahead. Used to describe overwork culture, hyper-competitive education, and saturated job markets.

复盘 means reviewing a completed project or action to extract lessons. Borrowed from Go strategy games, it's central to how Chinese tech companies learn and improve. Here's how it works.

存量竞争 means competing for existing customers in a saturated, zero-growth market — the opposite of expansion. Here's why it defines China's business landscape today.

底层逻辑 means 'underlying logic' or first-principles reasoning. It's the most frequently used — and most frequently mocked — buzzword in Chinese corporate culture. Here's what it actually means, when it's legitimate, and when it's just filler.

摆烂 is the Chinese word for knowing things are going badly and no longer trying to fix them — just letting them stay bad. Here's why it's so hard to translate and how it's actually used.

狠活 means jaw-dropping, hard-hitting content or skill — the kind that gets shared because it's almost unbelievably impressive or intense. Here's what it really means.

破防 means your emotional defenses have been breached. Learn what this Chinese internet slang really means, how it's used, and why it went viral.

躺平 means 'lying flat' — refusing to compete in China's high-pressure work and achievement culture. Learn how to use it and why it resonated with millions.

闭环 means closing the loop — but in Chinese corporate culture it implies a complete feedback cycle with accountability at every step. Here's what it really means in meetings and reports.

颗粒度 means granularity or level of detail. In Chinese workplaces it's used to critique plans, reports, and designs that lack specificity. Here's how to use it and what to do when someone says yours isn't enough.