Our phrase of the week is: “Kudos to me” (爱你老己 ài nǐ lǎo jǐ)
Context
Just as we were putting the finishing touches to our top buzzwords of 2025 list, another new buzzword was taking off.
It started to emerge on social media feeds in late December, with young people sharing moments of enjoyment while eating alone.
Nothing fancy. Just mostly young people enjoying simple, everyday meals and treats.
But the captions are what stand out.
Reading the text which goes with these images, you would assume that there’s at least two people involved — a couple, a family, or a group of friends. But there isn’t — there’s only the person posting.
Some have called this the warmest internet trend of last year. And maybe this is already an early contender for a top buzzword of 2026.
Either way, it seems bigger than just a passing online fad. Because this new slang word expresses the feelings of many young people in China today:
“Traditional social norms say ‘you must be good enough to deserve love.’
But young people are reinventing the narrative using phrases like ‘kudos to me’ to remind themselves: I deserve to be loved for who I am.”
传统的社会规训告诉我们”你足够优秀，才值得被爱”，而年轻人们通过“爱你老己”等新叙事暗示自己：因为我存在，所以我值得。
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
“Kudos to me” (爱你老己) is new internet slang term. Translated directly, it means “love you” (爱你), “dear” (老) “me” (己).
The phrase started out as a gaming slang, and is a famous line from the game, League of Legends (英雄联盟), spoken by the character, Sett: “love you, mom, see you tomorrow” (爱你老妈，明天见). It evolved into a playful sign-off between players in the game.
The phrase first started to go viral in late November, in a video of a content creator saying:
“I said I wanted to eat the pomelo but couldn’t be bothered to peel it.
After hearing that, I immediately peeled it and gave it to myself.
Kudos to me and see you tomorrow.”
我说想吃柚子但不想剥，我自己听完马上给自己剥好送给自己了，爱你老己，明天见。
Since it started to gain popularity, young people in China have been using it as a way to express being kind to themselves through small actions like ordering extra bubble tea (“one for me, and one for my dear self”), or for self-comforting after setbacks.
One popular variation is:
“My dear self is the only person who, if they have 100 yuan on them, will actually spend all 100 yuan on me.”
老己是唯一一个身上有100块，真的会给我花100块的人。
And a poetic adaptation of the phrase has also being doing the rounds on social media:
“My dear self supports my lofty ambitions, so I reward my dear self with riches.”
贤己扶我青云志，我还贤己万两金。
The mergence of “kudos to me” is a consequence of a shift among attitudes of young people in China.
According to online commentary around the meaning of this phrase, many people in China feel they’ve been conditioned to think that love and self-worth are linked to achievement and external validation.
This latest addition to the Chinese internet slang lexicon gives permission to be ordinary, and imperfect. And that’s perfectly fine!
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
