If you use Chinaโs most popular social chat app, WeChat, you might have seen a lot of strange references to โchicken soupโ:
Clearly, โchicken soupโ is not chicken soul in Chinese netizen vernacular. So what are people really talking about?
Chicken Soup For The Soul
In 1993, a book series called Chicken Soup for the Soul launched in the U.S. The books were about making people feel good and were filled with heart-warming and cheesy motivational essays. Over the years, hundreds of them were sold. There were different variations of Chicken Soup books too, like Chicken Soup for the Woman Golferโs Soul or Chicken Soup for the Soul: Parenthood.
Thus, Chinese netizens turned โchicken soupโ into a catchall term for gooey, feel-good essays that might belong in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book, like โTen Things Jack Ma Taught Meโ or โHeโs Rich But Not Happy โ Why?โ
Like the original Chicken Soup for the Soul stories, the emotional power of โchicken soupโ essays should not be underestimated. In a report released last October by Tencent, post-60โs WeChat users were identified as big fans of โchicken soupโ essays.
โLost In Translationโ is a weekly column that covers netizen-speak from Chinaโs Interwebs. Chinaโs internet slang is a fast-moving linguistic phenomenon and staying fresh has never been harder. Here, youโll find new words or phrases every week with a breakdown of what they mean, how theyโre used, and how they came to be.
