十大神兽

十大神獸
shídàshénshòu
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 the Ten Mythical Creatures of Baidu
  2. 2 set of internet hoax animals used to evade Chinese online censorship

Examples

HSK 6
Cǎonímǎ shì shídàshénshòu zhōng zuì yǒumíng de yí gè.
The 'grass-mud horse' is the most famous of the ten mythical creatures.
HSK 7-9
Bǎidù shídàshénshòu shì wǎngluò shàng de zhùmíng ègǎo.
The Baidu Ten Mythical Creatures are a famous internet parody.

Tips

culture
An internet meme that appeared on Baidu Baike around 2009 - ten fake animals whose names are near-homophones for profanity, used to slip vulgar jokes past automated content filters. The most famous is 草泥马 (cǎonímǎ, 'grass-mud horse'), homophone for an obscene insult, which became a global symbol of Chinese online resistance to censorship.

In Pop Culture

cǎo ní mǎ
grass-mud horse
Most famous of the 十大神兽 - a fictitious alpaca whose name is a phonetic disguise for a strong obscenity. Became an icon of internet censorship circumvention.

Stroke Order

shí
shén
shòu