Today Is a slightly different style of video. I had an impromptu Google Hangout with my younger sister, Iona.
During this chat we discussed the top 10 slang terms being used by kids in school and on the internet.
This is a bonus lesson, and I’ll continue making regular lessons for all those lower level students.
Let us know what you think. We made quite a lot of effort with this one, (especially those pesky subtitles)
This is probably 3/4 in Chinese, but i’ve written English subtitles so I think all you beginners should enjoy this lesson and practice your listening.
For you Int-learners, you can enjoy this lesson with the subtitles on or off, and see how much you understand. Download the podcast if you want to practice your listening.
For all you advanced learners, you can just listen to the podcast, or try turning off the subtitles and see how much you understand of the Taiwanese youth culture.
[Class notes and example sentences coming early next week]
Want to listen to this on the go? Download the podcast here, or listen on sound cloud.
MandarinMadeEZ by ChinesePod 
I know I’m a little late here, but this video is so much fun. I love it when you include Iona!
The American equivalent of #7 is “Pics or it didn’t happen!”
I’m pretty sure that the terms “GG” and “OP” come from gaming slang: “GG” is short for “good game”, and usually comes at the end of a match when the loser has decided they have no chance to come back from a set back or unfavorable position (even if they haven’t actually been eliminated yet), right before they quit. Gaming being what it is, this sentiment isn’t always genuine, and might read more like an expletive than the good sportsmanship it was first coined to convey. “OP” is short for “over-powered”, used in reference to an ability or strategy that the user feels is too good to the point of unfairness. It’s difficult to come up with an example that isn’t overly esoteric; a good translation in the contexts mentioned in your video would probably simply be “so strong” (with a heavy dose of sarcasm). In a gaming context, you’ll often see a sore loser use both of these in the same breath: “Siege Tanks are so OP, GG 魯蛇!”
This was a great video! Thanks to you both!
Thanks very much for the detailed explanation. I’m clearly not in touch with youth / gaming slang 🙂
I disagree with the GG slightly It’s simply a way to show good sportsmanship to finish the game, like shaking hands after a game of snooker. It is said by winning and losing players alike.
I agree with OP though. The opposite of “OP” is “nerf” as in the toy guns that shoot styrofoam bullets. This means the ability or strategy has been watered down too much (“in the last update they nerfed the siege tanks”). Not sure if that has entered spoken language in China yet. As far as I know GG or OP haven’t entered english youth spoken language yet – only online, but I could be wrong