吗喽

What does 吗喽 mean?

吗喽 is the jokey internet spelling of Cantonese 马骝, meaning monkey and pronounced maa1 lou1, and it is how China's overworked young describe themselves: no dignity, no savings, hustling for bananas. Monkey sticker packs took over group chats in 2023, and the line 吗喽的命也是命, “a monkey's life is a life too”, pushed the self-deprecation into something closer to a small protest. 牛马 is the other common word for the same overworked self-image.

Where does 吗喽 come from?

A 2023 Douyin remix carried Cantonese 马骝 into the Mandarin-speaking internet, riding monkey memes that were already circulating, and peaked during that year's season of work complaints. It settled in as the default self-mockery avatar of 打工人 culture and shows no sign of retiring.

How to use 吗喽

• 周一早上的我，就是只没睡醒的吗喽。
  Zhōuyī zǎoshang de wǒ, jiùshì zhǐ méi shuì xǐng de ma lou.
  Me on Monday morning is just a sleep-deprived monkey.
• 吗喽的命也是命啊！
  Ma lou de mìng yěshì mìng a!
  A monkey's life is a life too!