杠精

What does 杠精 mean?

A 杠精 does not debate to reach a conclusion; they debate for the pleasure of opposing. They will nitpick a weather comment, a food recommendation, a photo caption. The word is openly dismissive: calling someone a 杠精 ends the conversation rather than continuing it, and its tone sits between exasperation and pity.

Where does 杠精 come from?

杠精 is built on 抬杠, a northern colloquialism for contradicting people for sport, plus 精 from 妖精, giving the sense of a creature made of bickering. The coinage spread online through debate-heavy forums and comment sections, and in December 2018 国家语言资源监测与研究中心 included it in its annual top-ten list of internet words.

How to use 杠精

• 我说今晚月色真好，杠精说白天晒得更厉害。
  Wǒ shuō jīnwǎn yuèsè zhēn hǎo, gàngjīng shuō báitiān shài de gèng lìhài.
  I said the moon looked lovely tonight; the contrarian replied that daytime sunshine is stronger anyway.
• 分享个减肥食谱都能被杠精逐句挑错，我直接屏蔽了。
  Fēnxiǎng gè jiǎnféi shípǔ dōu néng bèi gàngjīng zhújù tiāocuò, wǒ zhíjiē píngbì le.
  Even sharing a diet plan got picked apart line by line by a contrarian, so I just blocked them.