View source for Duang

{{Short description|Chinese neologism and internet meme}}
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| header            = A representation of the character ''duang'', derived from the characters for ''cheng'' and ''long''
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'''''Duang''''' (<small>[[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] pronunciation:</small> {{IPAc-cmn|d|wang|1}}; {{zh|p=duāng|zhu=ㄉㄨㄤ}}; written as {{lang|zh-hk|動L}} in [[Hong Kong Cantonese]] with [[Jyutping]] ''dung6 eu6'') is a [[Chinese language|Chinese]] [[neologism]] that has become a viral [[Internet meme|meme]] despite its meaning being unclear. It has become a popular [[hashtag]] on [[Sina Weibo]] with more than 8 million mentions by the start of March 2015.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-31689148|title=Millions share new Chinese character|publisher=BBC News|date=2 March 2015|accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref>
== History ==
The word became viral after a 2004 advertisement for [[Bawang Shampoo]] in which [[Jackie Chan]] says, "...after filming, visual effects are added, the hair becomes ''duang'' very black, very shiny and very smooth."<ref>{{Cite web|last=大皮bootstrap|title=【成龙】霸王洗发液 原版_哔哩哔哩_bilibili|url=https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ex411A7xZ/|access-date=2021-12-08|website=www.bilibili.com}}</ref> The advertisement was the subject of a parody published on 20 February 2015 on the Chinese video sharing site [[Bilibili]], featuring footage of Chan remixed to the tune of the viral Chinese song ''My Skate Shoes'' ({{zhi|c=我的滑板鞋}}).<ref>{{cite web|title=Parady video on Bilibili|url=http://www.bilibili.com/video/av2023391/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223105218/http://www.bilibili.com:80/video/av2023391/ |archive-date=2015-02-23 }}</ref> In the video, Chan appears to say that he has no hair at all, with more interjections of "duang": "after a month of special effects, hair is&nbsp;– ''dua-a-a-ng''&nbsp;– still I knew they're fake, that it's due to chemicals. Every day now, I'm adding special effects... added a lot of effects... hair&nbsp;– ''duang duang duang''&nbsp;– is thick and shiny." The parody alludes to a 2010 scandal in which Bawang was accused of having added carcinogenic chemicals to its hair products.<ref name="StraitsTimes">{{cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/china-goes-ga-ga-over-new-chinese-character-duang-20150303|title=China goes ga-ga over new Chinese character 'duang'|author=Lee Min Kok|work=The Straits Times|location=Singapore|date=3 March 2015|accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="FP">{{cite news|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/27/the-word-that-broke-the-chinese-internet-duang/|title=The Word That Broke the Chinese Internet|author=Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian|date=27 February 2015|accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref>
Jackie Chan acknowledged the parody by uploading a self-mocking microblog that imitated the sentence structure from the spoof advertisement. He also expressed his gratitude for the public's attention and his determination to create more movies for his fans in the future.{{cn|date=June 2020}} His optimistic personality and self-mockery won over many fans.
==Meaning==
Despite its widespread appearance, the meaning of ''duang'' is unclear; "What's the meaning of duang" became the main topic on Weibo.<ref name="StraitsTimes" /> Although there seems to be no meaning at all, many people still continue to use it in their everyday conversations. The BBC has suggested that the word is an example of [[onomatopoeia]], a word phonetically imitating a sound.<ref name="BBC" /> While Chan used it as a "cartoonish sound-effect", as ''[[Ad Age]]'' puts it,<ref name="AdAge">{{cite news|url=http://adage.com/article/global-news/a-cheesy-jackie-chan-ad-viral/297420/|title=A Cheesy Jackie Chan Ad Just Went Insanely Viral in China|author=Angela Doland|date=3 March 2015|accessdate=4 March 2015}}</ref> some have used it in the same spirit while others have adopted it as an [[intensifier]]; for instance, something might be "duang cute" or one could be "very duang confused".<ref name="BBC" /> Based on the words spoken by Chan in the shampoo advertisement, ''duang'' has been defined as meaning "add special effects" ({{zh|c=加特效|p=jiā tèxiào}}) in some Chinese sources.<ref name="mair">{{Cite web | last=Mair | first=Victor | authorlink=Victor H. Mair | title=Duang | url=http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17913 | publisher=[[Language Log]] | date=1 March 2015 }}</ref>
The meme has been picked up by a variety of advertisers, including Bawang itself, which has released its own spoof video, in addition to [[KFC]], [[PepsiCo]], [[China Eastern Airlines]] and [[Taobao]]. [[Durex]] issued an animated [[GIF]] showing a buzzing [[rabbit vibrator]] with "duang" as the caption. The meme's lack of any defined meaning has enabled advertisers and Internet users to create their own version of "duang" and define it as they wish.<ref name="AdAge" /> ''Foreign Policy'' noted that while Chinese Internet users had a tradition of inventing new words or slang to get around government censorship, the Chinese government had lately managed to push back against this practice; it was thus perhaps "inevitable that a new word would emerge that simply meant nothing at all."<ref name="FP" />
==Pronunciation==
The word ''duang'' is not a meaningful syllable in [[Standard Chinese phonology|Standard Chinese]], and thus lacks any official associated character. However, as both the onset ''d-'' and the  rime ''-uang'' are both legal elements that occur in other syllables, the word is a phonologically valid syllable in Mandarin.<ref name="mair"/> Since it lacks an associated character, though, it can only be written by using [[bopomofo]] or [[pinyin]] or the unofficial character built from Jackie Chan's name. Although the word was initially written without any indication of tone, it was later given a first tone reading as (pinyin) ''duāng''.<ref name="mair"/>
== Chinese character ==
A [[Chinese characters|character]] for ''duang'' does not exist in any Chinese dictionary and is not encoded in [[Unicode]], but was created from the two characters used for Jackie Chan's Chinese stage name, Cheng Long ({{zh|s=成龙|t=成龍|p=Chéng Lóng}}, meaning "become a dragon"), stacked on top of each other.
== In music ==
The string quartet 'Duang'  by composer Samuel Cho premiered in May 2018 is inspired by this word.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.samuelchomusic.com/works/chamber/duang/|title=Duang (2018) for string quartet|website=SAMUEL CHO|language=en-US|access-date=2018-11-12}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Duang}}
* [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=17913 Discussion of duang] by [[Victor H. Mair]] on [[Language Log]]
{{Jackie Chan}}
[[Category:Internet memes]]
[[Category:Chinese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Chinese Internet slang]]
[[Category:2010s fads and trends]]
[[Category:2000s neologisms]]