卧槽

A phonetic pun on 和谐 (héxié, 'harmonious') — the official government term for a stable, censorship-friendly society. When content was deleted, it was 'harmonized' (被和谐了). The river crab (河蟹) sounds identical to 和谐 and became the symbol of censorship — a crab that sideways-walks through the internet snipping content. Saying 'the river crab got it' meant 'it was censored.'

Borrowed from Japanese お笑い culture (ツッコミ, tsukkomi — the straight man who calls out the fool), 吐槽 means to humorously call out, roast, or critique something. China's entire roast culture, meme culture, and comment section culture runs on 吐槽. Everything gets 吐槽ed: celebrities, products, politicians, movies, your own life. It's the primary mode of Chinese internet engagement.

From 'coupling' — a pairing of two people (real celebrities, fictional characters, or even streamer-viewer combinations) that fans imagine as a romantic couple. CP culture in China is enormous: fans compile evidence of interactions, create fan fiction, purchase merchandise of their OTP, and invest emotionally in whether their CP will 'go official' (官宣). A well-matched CP generates constant content for their fan communities.

Literally 'if you don't court disaster, disaster won't come to you.' This became one of the few Chinese internet phrases to achieve genuine viral crossover into English-speaking internet culture. When someone makes a terrible decision that backfires spectacularly, you invoke this phrase. The English version 'No Zuo No Die' became a recognized expression even among people with zero Chinese knowledge.