by Mia Li
Chinese urban dictionary is a monthly series where we give you snippets of language that you might just find useful.
mai meng \ mài méng \ 卖萌
Definition: v. to sell cuteness; to fully display one’s cuteness in public in order to draw attention or otherwise benefit oneself.
How to use it:
A | That actress totally ruined the panel discussion. All she did was say “ooh” and “ahh” while twirling her hair!
B | That was some shameless mai meng. I bet everyone remembered her though.
A | Yeah she’s trending on Twitter right now.
The market economy only came to China three decades ago, yet people have quickly realized that everything can be a commodity. Be it youth, power or prestige, anything that humans lust after can be bought and sold.
In today’s China, the scale of commoditization knows no bounds. Everything from fantasies to ambitions, longevity to sexual prowess, can be peddled, traded and bought at the marketplace. Ask any of your Chinese contemporaries and they will tell you that in order to survive in today’s economy, everyone must sell something. Models sell their looks, doctors their training, athletes their muscle and singers their voice. Go to any bookstore or university and you will find titles espousing the science of marketing and urging you to “find your own selling point” at “the right marketplace.”
So what’s your selling point? For the most attractive among us, it’s often being meng – a special brand of cuteness blessed with youthful innocence. It’s the sort of cuteness the rest of us can’t resist because it makes us forget our own mortality for a few precious seconds. It all started with baby animal photos and cat videos – we just love to look at them and we’d pay – in some way or another – to do so.
Because if they’re selling it, people are buying it. If meng is a commodity in high demand, then mai meng is the act of capitalizing on cuteness (mai simply means ‘to sell’). It’s the science of marketing in action.
Those who mai meng – or sell their cuteness – may just put it on full display to show off how cute they are. Any moment can be an opportune time to flutter their eyelashes, pucker up or make love to the camera, oblivious to whether it’s appropriate for the occasion. They know that their payment could come at any time – and in many currencies, be it money and privileges, or the attention and admiration that fuels them.
Moderate levels of mai meng are acceptable – like when your new puppy won’t stay out of shot in your home video. But generally, it is considered selfish and annoying – like when that cute girl on your debate team wears a low-cut shirt on stage and no-one pays any attention to the great arguments your team make.
By day, Mia Li is a news reporter in Beijing; at night, she tries to turn that news into standup comedy.
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