REAL INTERNET CHINESE
a plain, unadorned person
a regular person with no fame, outside the entertainment machine
- Who can you say it to?
- Safe with anyone Fine at work, fine with your partner's parents.
- Out loud, or only typed?
- Say it or type it Works out loud and in chat.
- Is it still used?
- Settled in Past the fad stage, part of everyday speech.
When to say it
Reality shows cast them by the busload: the non-celebrity contestants who make the stars look expensive. News uses it for the witness who becomes famous for exactly one week. It draws the industry's favorite line: public figure versus everyone else. Also a strangely polite way of saying 'nobody famous'.
Hear it in the wild
Zhège jiémù quán shì sùrén xuǎnshǒu.
This show is all non-celebrity contestants.
Sùrén yí yè bàohóng, dì èr tiān quánwǎng rènshi tā.
A nobody went viral overnight, the whole internet knew her by day two.
Quick answers
What does 素人 mean?
a regular person with no fame, outside the entertainment machine
When do people say 素人?
Reality shows cast them by the busload: the non-celebrity contestants who make the stars look expensive. News uses it for the witness who becomes famous for exactly one week. It draws the industry's favorite line: public figure versus everyone else. Also a strangely polite way of saying 'nobody famous'.
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