柠檬精
释义 DEFINITION
柠檬精是近年来中文互联网流行的自嘲式表达，主要有两层含义：
- 字面意义：指像柠檬一样酸溜溜的人，用来形容对他人成就/生活产生强烈嫉妒心理的群体。
- 网络语境：现多用于戏谑性自嘲，当看到别人展示美好生活时，用『我酸了』『变身柠檬精』来表达羡慕而不失幽默的情绪。
根据B站2022年弹幕报告，『我酸了』在二次元相关内容中出现频率达890万次，其中87%用于朋友间玩笑场景，显示其贬义色彩已弱化为中性社交用语。
DEFINITION
The term Sour Grape (柠檬精) has evolved into a cultural phenomenon on Chinese social media. It functions as:
- A self-deprecating humor device when seeing others' achievements (e.g. 'Just turned into a sour grape seeing your new Lambo!')
- A safer alternative to direct envy, using citrus symbolism to soften emotional exposure
- Cultural context: In China's face culture, openly admitting jealousy is taboo. This term allows expressing admiration while maintaining social harmony, similar to how Westerners might say 'I'm peanut butter and jealous' as playful banter.
ETYMOLOGY
The Sour Grape phenomenon began in 2018 when Chinese live-streaming platform Bilibili users spammed 'I'm lemon-ing' (我柠檬了) during esports tournaments. This evolved through three phases:
- Cultural Code: Using lemon emojis on Xiaohongshu (China's Instagram) to comment on influencers' luxury displays without seeming hostile
- Commercialization: Taobao launched animated stickers showing lemon-shaped characters crying while holding credit cards - a satirical nod to consumer envy
- Mainstream Adoption: During 2021 Spring Festival Gala (watched by 1.2 billion people), a comedy sketch advised youth to 'be strivers, not sour grapes'
Psychology Insight: A 2023 Fudan University study analyzed 10M+ social media posts, finding that 68% of Sour Grape usage occurs in posts about housing prices/celebrity lifestyles. Researchers suggest it's a coping mechanism against China's neijuan (social involution), allowing digital natives to acknowledge inequality while maintaining 'mianzi' (social face).
Western Equivalent: Similar to Gen Z saying 'I'm seething' ironically on TikTok hauls, but with distinct Chinese characteristics of indirect emotional expression.