菜鸡

Literally 'vegetable chicken' — which sounds absurd in English but makes perfect sense once you know '菜' (vegetable/greens) also means 'lousy' or 'terrible' in Chinese slang. A 菜鸡 is someone who's hilariously bad at a game, skill, or task. Think of the worst player in your lobby who somehow keeps queuing up anyway. The term is mostly affectionate and self-deprecating rather than a serious insult — calling yourself a 菜鸡 is practically a badge of relatable humility.

The term exploded alongside the boom of competitive mobile and PC gaming in China around 2017–2018, especially with titles like Honor of Kings and PUBG dominating youth culture. As esports went mainstream, so did a whole vocabulary of player rankings and trash talk. 菜鸡 filled the need for a word that was cutting but not cruel, fitting China's internet culture of playful self-mockery rather than aggressive put-downs.

菜鸡指游戏或某方面技术很差的人，带有调侃意味，也可用于自嘲。