给力 — Awesome / Empowering
What Does 给力 Mean?
Dialect slang meaning something is powerful, impressive, or satisfying — it 'gives force.' Went nationally viral when People's Daily (the Communist Party's official newspaper) used it as a front-page headline in 2010: 'Not 给力, China and Germany!' The sight of edgy internet slang in China's most official newspaper broke the internet. It marked the moment Chinese internet language officially entered mainstream discourse.
Origin Story
Northern Chinese dialect term that entered internet vocabulary around 2009-2010. The famous People's Daily headline '不给力啊，中德' (Not 给力, China and Germany) in November 2010 made it a national phenomenon and triggered debates about the relationship between internet culture and official language.
Cultural Context
The People's Daily headline was a watershed moment — it signaled that Chinese internet culture had grown powerful enough to influence official language. The government, rather than suppressing internet slang, was trying to speak it. This created a new dynamic where official media occasionally adopted internet vocabulary to seem more relatable, with mixed results.
Similar Expressions in English
Like 'awesome,' 'lit,' 'fire,' or 'that slaps' in English — a general intensifier of approval. The government adoption has no parallel in English, though imagine if the New York Times headline used 'lit' unironically.
How Is It Used?
Chinese Explanation (中文解释)
方言词汇，表示很厉害、很强劲、令人满意，因网络流行后被人民日报用作头版标题而引发热议。