Today Phrase: níng méng jīng (lemon spirit)

chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: Jan 22, 2019

你可能听说过“杠精(contrarian)”,“戏精(drama queen)”,但你知道还有“柠檬精[níng méng jīng]”吗?

“柠檬精”字面意思是“lemon spirit”,“精”指中国神话中的精灵(elves in Chinese mythology)。众所周知,柠檬是一种味道很“酸(sour)”的水果,而形容一个人“善妒(jealous)”,可以说这个人总是“酸溜溜的”。“成精的柠檬”浑身散发着酸味,用来表示“嫉妒心极强的(be quite jealous)人”。

网络世界的“柠檬精”总是嫉妒他人拥有的一切(be jealous of another person's possessions or qualities),见不得别人比自己好(feel angry or unhappy because you wish you had them)。而对于这种人的行为,用一句话来概括就是“典型的酸葡萄心理(sour grapes)”。

例句:

rén lèi de běn zhì jiù shì níng méng jīng
人类的本质就是“柠檬精”。
Human beings are born with jealousy.

bù yòng dān xīn tā zhǐ shì xì jīng shàng shēn 
不用担心,她只是“戏精”上身。
Don't worry. She's just being a drama queen.

wǒ zài yě wú fǎ rěn shòu gēn zhè gè gàng jīng yī qǐ shēng huó le
我再也无法忍受跟这个“杠精”一起生活了。
I cannot stand living with this contrarian anymore.

Editor: Jade

If you have any problems with this article, please contact us at app@chinadaily.com.cn and we'll immediately get back to you.