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Chinese Slang

Chinese Work & Burnout Slang

Chinese work slang is how young people in China talk about burnout: 内卷 (the rat race), 躺平 (lying flat), 摸鱼 (slacking on the clock), 摆烂 (letting it rot) and 打工人 (wage grunt). This page has 9 terms, trending first.

Haoshan Hong
Haoshan Hong

Founder of Fluentide · Native Mandarin speaker · Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University

Updated October 2026

Chinese Work & Burnout Slang terms

活人微死 (huó rén wēi sǐ) — Physically present but emotionally flatlined — still at your desk, nobody home. A burnout joke, never literal.
Trending

活人微死

huó rén wēi sǐ

dead inside but still showing up

班味 (bān wèi) — The worn-down, drained look a job stamps onto you — dead eyes, no spark, the 'office vibe' you can't wash off after months of clocking in.
Trending

班味

bān wèi

soul-crushed office look / work has drained me

外耗 (wài hào) — Letting it out instead of swallowing it. Where 内耗 is grinding yourself down with overthinking, 外耗 is directing that friction outward — saying the awkward thing, making it the other person's problem — to protect your own energy.
Trending

外耗

wài hào

making it someone else's problem

内卷 (nèi juǎn) — Pointless, exhausting competition where everyone works harder and harder just to stay in the same place — the rat race with no payoff.
Classic

内卷

nèi juǎn

the rat race / cutthroat grind

摸鱼 (mō yú) — Slacking off on the clock — looking busy while doing nothing. The daily resistance of the 打工人.
Classic

摸鱼

mō yú

to slack off / goof off at work

躺平 (tǎng píng) — Opting out of the grind — refusing to overwork, over-compete, or chase society's expectations. A quiet protest against 内卷.
Classic

躺平

tǎng píng

lying flat / quiet quitting, life edition

摆烂 (bǎi làn) — Deliberately letting things go to ruin — when a situation is already hopeless, you stop trying entirely. More nihilistic than 躺平.
Classic

摆烂

bǎi làn

letting it rot / actively giving up

打工人 (dǎ gōng rén) — A self-deprecating but oddly proud badge for the everyday wage earner grinding through their job.
Declining

打工人

dǎ gōng rén

wage slave / fellow worker bee

卷王 (juǎn wáng) — The overachiever who out-grinds everyone — staying latest, doing the most, dragging the bar up for the whole team. The champion of 内卷.
Declining

卷王

juǎn wáng

the try-hard / the grind champion

What is Chinese Work & Burnout Slang?

These words started online and are now ordinary Chinese. They reuse common characters, so they double as HSK vocabulary.

Chinese slang terms by usage status9 terms on this page: 3 trending, 4 classic, 2 declining, 0 outdated, 0 cringe.Trending3 termsBlowing up right nowClassic4 termsMainstream, still used dailyDeclining2 termsFading but still aliveOutdated0 termsPeople have stopped using itCringe0 termsUsing it now marks you as out-of-touch
Every term on this page carries one of these tags. Trending and classic terms are safe to use; the last two will date you.

When to use Chinese Work & Burnout Slang

When to use Chinese slangSlang fits in group chats, comments and posts, with friends in person and with coworkers your age. Skip it with your boss, teachers and elders, in job interviews, and in essays and emails.Slang fitsGroup chatsComments and postsFriends, in personCoworkers your ageSkip itYour bossTeachers and eldersJob interviewsEssays and emails
The same rule as English slang: use it with peers, drop it when the other person is grading, hiring or older than you.

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