Thursday
07Apr2005
88 - the right way to sign off your chat sessions in China
Thursday, April 7, 2005 at 1:52PM
Update: ELF posted more of these shortcuts. Check the comments
I was just online with a friend and she was surprised when I signed off with the phrase "88". I picked up this habit from friends in China. Most mainland China IM users sign off their chat session with a "88" or a "886". They use this as a short cut because "88" when read in Chinese sounds like "pa pa" - a bit like bye bye (the chinese sound for p is closer to b). Some people also say "886" - "ba ba liu". The number 6 (liu) here is only to make it sound nicer, it has no meaning. You can use either 88 or 886.
Another such shortcut used commonly is "521", "wu er yi" - with some imagination you can rhyme it to "wo ai ni" - i love you.
Ok, now I will go out and try some more Burmese food.
88
I was just online with a friend and she was surprised when I signed off with the phrase "88". I picked up this habit from friends in China. Most mainland China IM users sign off their chat session with a "88" or a "886". They use this as a short cut because "88" when read in Chinese sounds like "pa pa" - a bit like bye bye (the chinese sound for p is closer to b). Some people also say "886" - "ba ba liu". The number 6 (liu) here is only to make it sound nicer, it has no meaning. You can use either 88 or 886.
Another such shortcut used commonly is "521", "wu er yi" - with some imagination you can rhyme it to "wo ai ni" - i love you.
Ok, now I will go out and try some more Burmese food.
88
Reader Comments (14)
5211314 is what ???hehe preetam
wo ai ni yi san yi si = i love you for lifetime.
ha ha elf, who said that to you?
This is cool. Imagine if we end up talking in numbers, now efficient we will be! Any more numbers to decipher?? :)
haha u right preetam..
no one siad that to me hehe..
elf is a brave girl,so no boy dare say that to her ,,,,haha
596我走了 wo zou le / i will go
456是我啦 shi wo la/ it is me
7998去走走� qu zou zou ba /go for a walk
594230æˆ‘å°±æ˜¯çˆ±æƒ³ä½ wo jiu shi ai xiang ni /i just love to miss ya
360æƒ³å¿µä½ xiang nian ni /miss ya
2010000çˆ±ä½ ä¸€ä¸‡å¹´ ai ni yi wan nian/ love ya for 10 thousands
1372一厢情愿 yi xiang qing yuan/i t is ur business
259695爱我就了解我 ai wo jiu liao jie wo /love me,so try to know me
5871我�介� wo bu jie yi/ i never mind
82475被爱就是幸� bei ai jiu shi xing fu /it is happy to be loved
08376ä½ åˆ«ç”Ÿæ°”äº†ni bie sheng qi le /dont be angry
1799一起走走 yi qi zou zou/ lets go for a walk
5366我想�� wo xiang liao liao /i wanna have a chat
246饿æ»äº† e si le /I am starving.
918åŠ æ²¹å�§ jia you ba/ come on
04551ä½ æ˜¯æˆ‘å”¯ä¸€ ni shi wo de wei yi/ u r my only
51396我��觉了 wo yao shui jiao le/ i will go to sleep
537我生气 wo sheng qi/ i am angry
is chinsese num* funny??
but most of the num* r used in love ..hehe
2010000,haha.
hey runningirl
where u from
can i know ya?
Kevin, there you have it, elf put in all those. Thanks elf. And running girl.. xie xie 82475.
04551 elf...1314. ;p
oh jeraldgoh!who r u ?
u know me?ehhe
Hi elf, I saw that u mentioned no one has told u abt 5211314, hence just a small gesture from me here keke. Dun noe u la.. Aint I great, Preetam? Preetam knows me hohoho
i thought i love you was supposed to be 520
ne of them in canto? or just mandarin?
i thot it was 520 1314, not 521 1314. O_o
8 is the eight letter in the alphabet so 88 is also a neo nazi greeting... since 88 ? hh ? heil h**ler :(