玩梗 (wángěng): to make / use memes

Meanings

1 to make / use memes
2 to play with internet jokes
3 to riff on a meme

Characters

玩

Examples

评论区都在玩梗,正经回答没几个。

Pínglùnqū dōu zài wángěng, zhèngjīng huídá méi jǐ gè.

Everyone in the comments is meme-ing; there are barely any serious replies.

她特别会玩梗,所以视频很受欢迎。

Tā tèbié huì wángěng, suǒyǐ shìpín hěn shòu huānyíng.

She's really good at meme-ing, which is why her videos are popular.

Tips

culture

梗 is borrowed from the 哏 (gén) of crosstalk (相声) culture — a 'punchline' or 'comedic hook'. On the internet 梗 means a meme / running joke / inside reference. 玩梗 is 'to play with the meme' — riffing on, layering, or referencing it. The verb cluster: 造梗 (create a meme), 玩梗 (riff on it), 烂梗 (worn-out meme), 梗图 (meme image).

register

Casual / internet slang. Common on 微博, 抖音, 哔哩哔哩 (Bilibili), and group chats. Don't use in formal writing — say 网络流行语 (online catchphrase) instead if you need a neutral term.