<p>It appears to be the English colloquial equivalent of "negging".  Making fun of something or someone lightheartedly to make a statement about something.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-18T23:39:11.240Z
2017-05-18T23:39:11.240Z
Ryan Giordano
<p>You did a <em>really</em> good job in your description of the meaning. Your offered  translation captured the essence of what's meant. Props to you for that! Looking for an equivalent, you'll have to avoid formal English, because this isn't formal speech in English nor Chinese.</p>
<p>A good translation would be a &quot;smart-ass comment.&quot; That's what we call it in English when someone makes an off-the-cuff remark about something mentioned, usually to poke fun at it, without meaning it to be relevant to what's being said.</p>
<p>Sometimes when we do this in English someone &quot;coughs&quot; the comment to make it more comedic as if slipped into the conversation by accident.</p>
<p>A &quot;roast&quot; is a comedic event where friends of a person stand up and speak badly about him, as a celebration of him. Sounds pretty strange, right? Westerners have tremendously impenetrable egos, so sometimes when we poke fun out of love. Like when we toast our best friend at his wedding, we might ridicule him a little in admiration. That's a roast and I don't think it lines up well with what 吐槽 implies.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-11T15:11:16.520Z
2020-09-11T15:16:17.660Z
2020-09-11T15:16:17.660Z
Rob_vH
<p>吐槽 , in a general sense, means &quot;to point out the flaws of something&quot;, but in a more extended and &quot;less serious&quot; way.</p>
<p>It's mainly used for:</p>
<ul>
<li>complaining about something, and then (sometimes)</li>
<li>ridiculing about something</li>
</ul>
<p>An example of 吐槽:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“加载一个视频怎么这么慢？”</p>
<p>Why is the video taking such a long time to load?</p>
<p>“我爷爷家的网络要比你们快得多！”</p>
<p>My grandpa's house's internet is so much faster than yours!</p>
</blockquote>
<p>(I'm not sure if that's appropriate or not, but you get the idea.)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-10T10:14:44.457Z
2017-05-10T10:14:44.457Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Qwerp-Derp
<p>To explain it in chinese.<br>
抱怨，怨天尤人，发牢骚，说闲话。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-10T11:31:46.627Z
I don't think the OP is looking for an explanation in Chinese...
Qwerp-Derp
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-10T11:14:02.497Z
2017-05-10T11:14:02.497Z
scrapy
<p><a href="https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&amp;wdrst=0&amp;wdqb=%E5%90%90%E6%A7%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MDBG:吐槽</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>(slang) to roast</p>
<p>to ridicule</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'd also opt for <strong>to make fun of</strong> sth/sb.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-08T13:45:06.137Z
2017-05-08T13:45:06.137Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Mou某
<p>I am having a hard time explaining the concept of 吐槽 to a foreigner. How can I explain the nature of 吐槽? I tried something like this but it doesn't seem to convey the art of 吐槽 in full:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>吐槽 is the act of making a random, half-serious comment on something, usually not relevant to the point of that "something".</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I feel like this explanation is not good enough. Is there a better way to explain it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-08T13:28:45.920Z
bkrs：(slang) to roast to ridicule also pr. [tǔ cáo] http://cn.hujiang.com/new/p483264/
http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%90%90%E6%A7%BD
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-08T14:52:26.073Z
more online explanation in English, just one example   http://www.szdaily.com/content/2012-02/13/content_6457037.htm
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-19T09:23:42.593Z
being satirical; bitch about
NS.X.
<translation><culture>
What is 吐槽? How should I translate it?
# What is 吐槽? How should I translate it?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-08)

I am having a hard time explaining the concept of 吐槽 to a foreigner. How can I explain the nature of 吐槽? I tried something like this but it doesn't seem to convey the art of 吐槽 in full:

> 吐槽 is the act of making a random, half-serious comment on something, usually not relevant to the point of that "something".

I feel like this explanation is not good enough. Is there a better way to explain it?

**Tags:** translation, culture

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: bkrs：(slang) to roast to ridicule also pr. [tǔ cáo] http://cn.hujiang.com/new/p483264/ http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%90%90%E6%A7%BD  
> **username_1**: more online explanation in English, just one example   http://www.szdaily.com/content/2012-02/13/content_6457037.htm  
> **username_2**: being satirical; bitch about  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2017-05-08. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

[MDBG:吐槽](https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E5%90%90%E6%A7%BD)

> (slang) to roast
>
> to ridicule

I'd also opt for **to make fun of** sth/sb.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-05-18. Score: 1

It appears to be the English colloquial equivalent of "negging". Making fun of something or someone lightheartedly to make a statement about something.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-11. Score: 1

You did a *really* good job in your description of the meaning. Your offered translation captured the essence of what's meant. Props to you for that! Looking for an equivalent, you'll have to avoid formal English, because this isn't formal speech in English nor Chinese.

A good translation would be a "smart-ass comment." That's what we call it in English when someone makes an off-the-cuff remark about something mentioned, usually to poke fun at it, without meaning it to be relevant to what's being said.

Sometimes when we do this in English someone "coughs" the comment to make it more comedic as if slipped into the conversation by accident.

A "roast" is a comedic event where friends of a person stand up and speak badly about him, as a celebration of him. Sounds pretty strange, right? Westerners have tremendously impenetrable egos, so sometimes when we poke fun out of love. Like when we toast our best friend at his wedding, we might ridicule him a little in admiration. That's a roast and I don't think it lines up well with what 吐槽 implies.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2017-05-10. Score: 0

吐槽 , in a general sense, means "to point out the flaws of something", but in a more extended and "less serious" way.

It's mainly used for:

* complaining about something, and then (sometimes)
* ridiculing about something

An example of 吐槽:

> “加载一个视频怎么这么慢？”
>
> Why is the video taking such a long time to load?
>
> “我爷爷家的网络要比你们快得多！”
>
> My grandpa's house's internet is so much faster than yours!

(I'm not sure if that's appropriate or not, but you get the idea.)


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2017-05-10. Score: -2

To explain it in chinese.  
抱怨，怨天尤人，发牢骚，说闲话。

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: I don't think the OP is looking for an explanation in Chinese...  

---

