You’ve heard of lying flat (躺平), 996 and workplace PUA (职场PUA). You’ve even heard of involution (内卷). These are former online buzzwords describing work, which is now part of daily Chinese vocabulary. But has the internet lingo about work evolved? What are people saying about work in 2025?
Cattle and horses (牛马)
“Cattle and horses” is a common term used to describe workers (including office workers) in harsh conditions and long hours. This comes from an old expression “当牛做马” (be your cattle and your horses, meaning serving someone). But it has gradually started to replace “打工人”, which means worker in general.
Stench of employment (班味)
This usually means how your appearance and mannerisms have changed after navigating work with impossible tasks, harsh conditions, and office politics. Looking tired, emaciated, and unkempt while losing appetite and interests means you emit a ‘stench of employment’. The term is now frequently used in emotional marketing as people seek to “去班味”, or deodorise the stench.
Crispy worker (脆皮打工人)
Refers to the chronic pain in the back or joints caused by jockeying your desk throughout the week with little rest or exercise. It can also be translated as “fragile” or “brittle” workers. It is sometimes used to imply that workers are prone to injury or illness, also due to the lack of movement, unhealthy diet and disrupted sleep patterns.
Bonus: Quit in spirit (精神离职)
This is the exact equivalent of “quiet quitting” (from around 2022) that translators have been looking for. Many tried to equate “lying flat” to quiet quitting, but lying flat is more of a mentality towards life, whereas “quitting in spirit” describes doing the bare minimum required at work with no proactivity or desire for career development that “quiet quitting” entails.
Together with buzzwords like “mouse people”, it would seem that Chinese people in 2025 are less overtly frustrated or angry about their work and are applying more gallows humour with resignation (no pun intended). For those who find the stench of employment particularly difficult to bear, seeking professional help is strongly encouraged, as taking care of one’s mental health is essential.