<p>The '萌' is actually a borrowed word from Japanese,in Japanese, '萌え(moe)' means cute, so using '萌' to represent cute isn't an official meaning</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T09:29:42.573Z
Thanks for the information. But other modern idioms, such as 细思极恐 and 屌丝 are typically not included in the dictionaries, either.
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T10:03:44.130Z
Yes, these words are slang words, the Chinese dictionaries don't usually collect slang words because the dictionaries are based on standard Chinese, these words are only used in a certain community, or contain offensive content, or have just become popular recently. For example, in the 2000s we used '我晕'/'无语' to mean speechless, but after 2010 we don't use it anymore.These words are called '网络热词(Internet hot word)' in Chinese, so the official dictionary won't collect them. @Robin
Akiza Takeshi
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T11:18:54.800Z
'无语' and '细思极恐' have become part of our real-life language already, not just limited to internet usage or a certain community. I think they are still commonly used.
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T16:38:24.327Z
@Robin 细思极恐 and 屌丝 can both be found in Wiktionary and MDBG.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T17:33:38.077Z
What is the definition of "karen" in the US/UK dictionary?
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-07T03:12:47.193Z
I agree with @AkizaTakeshi that most slang terms in Chinese are either regional or faddish.
fat penguin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-07T10:05:17.880Z
@Mou某 Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. I mean, 无语 and 细思极恐, which have managed to stick around and are commonly-used in real life, typically can’t be found in authoritative dictionaries like 现代汉语词典.
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-12T04:41:04.970Z
Though added useful info, this answer by itself does not really answer the question.
王博龙
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T09:21:31.747Z
2023-11-06T09:21:31.747Z
Akiza Takeshi
<p>Your particular example of 萌 is included in the latest version of 现代汉语词典, but this example is not representative of modern slangs.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/B9Ymj.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/B9Ymj.png" alt="现代汉语词典 萌" /></a></p>
<p>For cultural reasons most dictionaries lean toward prescriptivism than descriptivism. Thus dictionary editors are usually unwilling to include slangs unless they have gained widespread use. See for example the Douban (China book review website) reviews of 现代汉语词典: <a href="https://book.douban.com/subject/26893148/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://book.douban.com/subject/26893148/</a> You can see a lot of criticism against adding in popular usages.</p>
<p>Also Internet slangs tend to fade away extremely fast, while a paper dictionary is intended to last for a long time. The 2009 edition of 辞海 included &quot;斑竹&quot;, then a popular slang for BBS moderator, but this word is rarely used today due to the decline of BBS in mainland China.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/p3640.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/p3640.png" alt="辞海 斑竹" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T17:31:06.713Z
2023-11-06T17:31:06.713Z
user2249675
<p>I think most dictionaries absolutely do contain slang.  However its important to keep in mind that bilingual dictionaries still have a target audience of one or the other language.</p>
<p>A dictionary with a target of chinese speakers will likely include english slang, but define it with regular chinese. See example below:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/BucGa.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BucGa.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
Same thing with dictionaries aimed at an english audience, in reverse, like below:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lbIDH.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lbIDH.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a>
I do not think you will find any term like GOATed in a dictionary, because it is actually not slang, but an acronym.  An acronym specific dictionary would have it but that is less likely to be bilingual.</p>
<p>In the same way I think padawan has not crossed the line into true slang, but is just a pop culture reference.  I can confidently say if I had never seen starwars I would have no idea or use of that term. If it crosses that line to be used wildly with no concept of starwars attached,  it will be true slang.  As is, its less likely to make it into anything bilingual considering even most natives need to look it up.</p>
<p>All this happens in chinese too, not just the english side. Someone would want to go online instead of a traditional dictionary to ask about an acronym like kswl or pop culture reference like 葛優癱</p>
<p>Hope this helps, images from two different pleco dictionaries (◐‿◑)</p>
<p>EDIT:  for those who cannot see the photos, the first is an entry aimed at chinese of english slang &quot;iffy&quot;.  it shows the definition &quot;bad&quot; in english slang with chinese definition of 可疑的；有問題的；有點壞的 as well as slang definition of &quot;uncertain&quot; with chinese definition of
未確定的；有變數的.  Note how the english slang is defined with normal chinese not slang equivalents.</p>
<p>the second photo is aimed at english speakers and defines the chinese slang
&quot;同志&quot;  with the definition &quot;COMMON NAME FOR gay; homosexual&quot;  it also gives the regular definition of &quot;comrade&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-19T05:02:59.110Z
I think your opinion that “Someone would want to go online instead of a traditional dictionary to ask about an acronym like kswl or pop culture reference like 葛優癱” makes sense.   But the point is that “GOATed”(GOAT is simply an acronym, but GOATed counts as a slang) and “padawan”(the sense: a naive person) ARE indeed included in authoritative English dictionaries, Webster-Merriam Dictionary for the former, and OED for the latter, while as for Chinese dictionaries, it’s almost impossible .
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-19T05:09:07.913Z
Btw unfortunately, I can’t seem to access the images on this website :( it’s probably because I’m in China.
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-19T18:26:12.740Z
@Robin  ah, I added a transcription of the important text on the photos for you, and anyone else who cannot see the photos, in the original post.  My main point was that while those slang you mention may appear in native dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries have to be selective and cannot be exhaustive.  Keep in mind they have double the entries immediately and many more example sentences than native dictionaries.  An exhaustive dictionary might break a million entries total.  Although it probably exists somewhere, expensively haha (◐‿◑)
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-19T18:29:03.970Z
@Robin to put it another way, chinese only dictionaries do include the same amount of slang as native english ones, with much of that slang being from chinese besides standard mandarin.  I have an entire dictionary on cantonese sayings and slang for example, but its all chinese chinese, not bilingual.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-20T12:19:19.700Z
considering the fact that “GOATed”, “Padawan”, “tweet” are even included in OED/Merriam-Webster dictionary, those authoritative English dictionaries strike me as more open to newer slangs than their Chinese counterparts
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-20T12:21:42.977Z
Thanks for the edit. But please note that FRSTLY, the question is limited to authoritative comprehensive dictionaries, like 现代汉语词典/辞海/新华字典 and their English counterparts, Oxford English Dictionary/Cambridge Dictionary. Clearly there are plenty of online dictionaries for internet slangs respectively for both languages, so they are not worth discussing.  BESIDES,(sorry for not having made myself clear)I meant to focus on “New or internet slangs/idioms” that have gained wide use. Is your Cantonese dictionary open for relatively new slangs(especially those which got popular around 80/90/00/10s)?
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-21T04:24:31.400Z
@Robin If you aren't familiar with pleco I understand the concern for source quality-- the first dictionary I cited is The New Century E-C dictionary新世紀英漢大詞典, most recent update 2016 with over 200,000 entries and over 100,000 example sentences.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-21T04:34:03.703Z
@Robin  the second is from the default pleco C-E dictionary, which was most recently updated in 2021 and has around 100,000 entries.  Both dictionaries have been in use since the 90s and continually updated.
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-21T04:38:14.287Z
@Robin Bilingual dictionaries already have to be very selective in what they include-- some have a ton of different entries, but have to eliminate pinyin or make definitions very succint to fit them all in.  This makes online slang less likely to appear, when they are already stuggling with room to properly define regular words and example sentences.  Then you see dictionaries with far less entries, but way more detailed definitions and many example sentences-- but that means even less likely to see online slang when so many regular terms are straight up excluded.  Hope this makes sense :)
zagrycha
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-03T02:58:43.760Z
sorry, but you will find that I'm not talking about bilingual dictionaries if you reread my question. It's about monolingual authoritative dictionaries. And I exclude the online dictionaries because they definitely include many new slangs, which make them not worth discussing, not because I doubt their source quality.
Robin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-19T04:01:49.940Z
2023-11-19T18:20:35.450Z
2023-11-19T18:20:35.450Z
zagrycha
<p>What are the possible reasons that authoritative Chinese dictionaries tend to include less new slangs or idioms (mainly talking about those that got popular from the 90s to 10s, or even the 20s) than authoritative English ones?</p>
<p>By slangs, I refer to those that managed to stick around and are widely used.
By authoritative dictionaries, I refer to ones like 现代汉语词典/辞海/新华字典 vs. Oxford English Dictionary/Webster-Merriam Dictionary/Cambridge Dictionary.</p>
<p>Examples:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>“细思极恐” was initially internet slangs, but it hacked its way into our real life and is still commonly used. Yet it is not included in authoritative dictionaries.
Same for “破防“, “躺平” and so on.</p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/WaSMO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/WaSMO.png" alt="GOATED is in Webster-Merriam Dictionary" /></a></p>
</li>
<li><p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/OXnMz.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/OXnMz.jpg" alt="Padawan is in OED" /></a>
<em>By the way, this is surprising to me as I have never seen any slang originating from a film character in Chinese dictionaries.</em></p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-06T16:33:29.463Z
I realize this is not your point, but the definition you are looking for can be found in《两岸》: https://www.moedict.tw/~%E8%90%8C | It is difficult to back sweeping statements without some sort of empirical data. Do English dictionaries contain more slang? Do Chinese dictionaries contain less? And which dictionaries?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-11-07T10:07:21.010Z
@Mou某 Thanks for pointing out. I will try to modify my question to make it more detailed.
Robin
<dictionary>
Why do authoritative Chinese dictionaries tend to include less slangs than their English counterparts?
# Why do authoritative Chinese dictionaries tend to include less slangs than their English counterparts?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-11-06)

What are the possible reasons that authoritative Chinese dictionaries tend to include less new slangs or idioms (mainly talking about those that got popular from the 90s to 10s, or even the 20s) than authoritative English ones?

By slangs, I refer to those that managed to stick around and are widely used.
By authoritative dictionaries, I refer to ones like 现代汉语词典/辞海/新华字典 vs. Oxford English Dictionary/Webster-Merriam Dictionary/Cambridge Dictionary.

Examples:

1. “细思极恐” was initially internet slangs, but it hacked its way into our real life and is still commonly used. Yet it is not included in authoritative dictionaries.
   Same for “破防“, “躺平” and so on.
2. [![GOATED is in Webster-Merriam Dictionary](https://i.sstatic.net/WaSMO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/WaSMO.png)
3. [![Padawan is in OED](https://i.sstatic.net/OXnMz.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/OXnMz.jpg)
   *By the way, this is surprising to me as I have never seen any slang originating from a film character in Chinese dictionaries.*

**Tags:** dictionary
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I realize this is not your point, but the definition you are looking for can be found in《两岸》: https://www.moedict.tw/~%E8%90%8C | It is difficult to back sweeping statements without some sort of empirical data. Do English dictionaries contain more slang? Do Chinese dictionaries contain less? And which dictionaries?  
> **username_0**: @Mou某 Thanks for pointing out. I will try to modify my question to make it more detailed.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-11-06. Score: 2

The '萌' is actually a borrowed word from Japanese,in Japanese, '萌え(moe)' means cute, so using '萌' to represent cute isn't an official meaning

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the information. But other modern idioms, such as 细思极恐 and 屌丝 are typically not included in the dictionaries, either.  
> **username_2**: Yes, these words are slang words, the Chinese dictionaries don't usually collect slang words because the dictionaries are based on standard Chinese, these words are only used in a certain community, or contain offensive content, or have just become popular recently. For example, in the 2000s we used '我晕'/'无语' to mean speechless, but after 2010 we don't use it anymore.These words are called '网络热词(Internet hot word)' in Chinese, so the official dictionary won't collect them. @Robin  
> **username_0**: '无语' and '细思极恐' have become part of our real-life language already, not just limited to internet usage or a certain community. I think they are still commonly used.  
> **username_1**: @Robin 细思极恐 and 屌丝 can both be found in Wiktionary and MDBG.  
> **username_3**: What is the definition of "karen" in the US/UK dictionary?  
> **username_4**: I agree with @AkizaTakeshi that most slang terms in Chinese are either regional or faddish.  
> **username_0**: @Mou某 Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. I mean, 无语 and 细思极恐, which have managed to stick around and are commonly-used in real life, typically can’t be found in authoritative dictionaries like 现代汉语词典.  
> **username_5**: Though added useful info, this answer by itself does not really answer the question.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2023-11-06. Score: 1

Your particular example of 萌 is included in the latest version of 现代汉语词典, but this example is not representative of modern slangs.

[![现代汉语词典 萌](https://i.sstatic.net/B9Ymj.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/B9Ymj.png)

For cultural reasons most dictionaries lean toward prescriptivism than descriptivism. Thus dictionary editors are usually unwilling to include slangs unless they have gained widespread use. See for example the Douban (China book review website) reviews of 现代汉语词典: <https://book.douban.com/subject/26893148/> You can see a lot of criticism against adding in popular usages.

Also Internet slangs tend to fade away extremely fast, while a paper dictionary is intended to last for a long time. The 2009 edition of 辞海 included "斑竹", then a popular slang for BBS moderator, but this word is rarely used today due to the decline of BBS in mainland China.

[![辞海 斑竹](https://i.sstatic.net/p3640.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/p3640.png)


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2023-11-19. Score: 1

I think most dictionaries absolutely do contain slang. However its important to keep in mind that bilingual dictionaries still have a target audience of one or the other language.

A dictionary with a target of chinese speakers will likely include english slang, but define it with regular chinese. See example below:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/BucGa.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/BucGa.png)
Same thing with dictionaries aimed at an english audience, in reverse, like below:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/lbIDH.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/lbIDH.png)
I do not think you will find any term like GOATed in a dictionary, because it is actually not slang, but an acronym. An acronym specific dictionary would have it but that is less likely to be bilingual.

In the same way I think padawan has not crossed the line into true slang, but is just a pop culture reference. I can confidently say if I had never seen starwars I would have no idea or use of that term. If it crosses that line to be used wildly with no concept of starwars attached, it will be true slang. As is, its less likely to make it into anything bilingual considering even most natives need to look it up.

All this happens in chinese too, not just the english side. Someone would want to go online instead of a traditional dictionary to ask about an acronym like kswl or pop culture reference like 葛優癱

Hope this helps, images from two different pleco dictionaries (◐‿◑)

EDIT: for those who cannot see the photos, the first is an entry aimed at chinese of english slang "iffy". it shows the definition "bad" in english slang with chinese definition of 可疑的；有問題的；有點壞的 as well as slang definition of "uncertain" with chinese definition of
未確定的；有變數的. Note how the english slang is defined with normal chinese not slang equivalents.

the second photo is aimed at english speakers and defines the chinese slang
"同志" with the definition "COMMON NAME FOR gay; homosexual" it also gives the regular definition of "comrade".

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think your opinion that “Someone would want to go online instead of a traditional dictionary to ask about an acronym like kswl or pop culture reference like 葛優癱” makes sense.   But the point is that “GOATed”(GOAT is simply an acronym, but GOATed counts as a slang) and “padawan”(the sense: a naive person) ARE indeed included in authoritative English dictionaries, Webster-Merriam Dictionary for the former, and OED for the latter, while as for Chinese dictionaries, it’s almost impossible .  
> **username_0**: Btw unfortunately, I can’t seem to access the images on this website :( it’s probably because I’m in China.  
> **username_7**: @Robin  ah, I added a transcription of the important text on the photos for you, and anyone else who cannot see the photos, in the original post.  My main point was that while those slang you mention may appear in native dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries have to be selective and cannot be exhaustive.  Keep in mind they have double the entries immediately and many more example sentences than native dictionaries.  An exhaustive dictionary might break a million entries total.  Although it probably exists somewhere, expensively haha (◐‿◑)  
> **username_7**: @Robin to put it another way, chinese only dictionaries do include the same amount of slang as native english ones, with much of that slang being from chinese besides standard mandarin.  I have an entire dictionary on cantonese sayings and slang for example, but its all chinese chinese, not bilingual.  
> **username_0**: considering the fact that “GOATed”, “Padawan”, “tweet” are even included in OED/Merriam-Webster dictionary, those authoritative English dictionaries strike me as more open to newer slangs than their Chinese counterparts  
> **username_0**: Thanks for the edit. But please note that FRSTLY, the question is limited to authoritative comprehensive dictionaries, like 现代汉语词典/辞海/新华字典 and their English counterparts, Oxford English Dictionary/Cambridge Dictionary. Clearly there are plenty of online dictionaries for internet slangs respectively for both languages, so they are not worth discussing.  BESIDES,(sorry for not having made myself clear)I meant to focus on “New or internet slangs/idioms” that have gained wide use. Is your Cantonese dictionary open for relatively new slangs(especially those which got popular around 80/90/00/10s)?  
> **username_7**: @Robin If you aren't familiar with pleco I understand the concern for source quality-- the first dictionary I cited is The New Century E-C dictionary新世紀英漢大詞典, most recent update 2016 with over 200,000 entries and over 100,000 example sentences.  
> **username_7**: @Robin  the second is from the default pleco C-E dictionary, which was most recently updated in 2021 and has around 100,000 entries.  Both dictionaries have been in use since the 90s and continually updated.  
> **username_7**: @Robin Bilingual dictionaries already have to be very selective in what they include-- some have a ton of different entries, but have to eliminate pinyin or make definitions very succint to fit them all in.  This makes online slang less likely to appear, when they are already stuggling with room to properly define regular words and example sentences.  Then you see dictionaries with far less entries, but way more detailed definitions and many example sentences-- but that means even less likely to see online slang when so many regular terms are straight up excluded.  Hope this makes sense :)  
> **username_0**: sorry, but you will find that I'm not talking about bilingual dictionaries if you reread my question. It's about monolingual authoritative dictionaries. And I exclude the online dictionaries because they definitely include many new slangs, which make them not worth discussing, not because I doubt their source quality.  

---

