何弃疗

What does 何弃疗 mean?

何弃疗 is shorthand for 为何放弃治疗: why have you given up on treatment? The line mimics a doctor or a despairing relative and gets aimed at anyone whose behavior seems medically unexplainable. Someone buys their seventh mechanical keyboard this month? Someone spends the entire weekend arguing with strangers online? 何弃疗. It is not really an insult: the diagnosis is delivered with a grin, and half the time the speaker is the patient.

Where does 何弃疗 come from?

The phrase spread across Weibo and Tieba in 2013 and landed on year-end lists of top internet phrases, such as the one compiled in December 2013 by the overseas Chinese outlet 超级生活. It often travels with its partner line 药不能停, do not stop your medication, and together they form a two-part gag about the internet possibly needing a psychiatrist.

How to use 何弃疗

• 你凌晨三点还在刷手机？何弃疗！
  Nǐ língchén sān diǎn hái zài shuā shǒujī? Hé qì liáo!
  Still scrolling on your phone at 3 a.m.? Why have you abandoned treatment!
• 他为了抽卡又充了一个月工资，我们都说他何弃疗。
  Tā wèile chōu kǎ yòu chōng le yí gè yuè gōngzī, wǒmen dōu shuō tā hé qì liáo.
  He spent another whole month of salary on gacha pulls. We all told him he had given up on treatment.