Who’d have thought that one of the world's most complex languages could be distilled into a silly meme? Yet the 2015 duang phenomenon (prompted by Jackie Chan making a nonsensical ad lib in a shampoo ad) encompassed just how dynamic Mandarin is, as experts and online commenters vigorously debated how the trendy new word should be pronounced, and what character should be used to represent it. The greater impact of duang is eloquently described by linguistic scholar David Moser in the opening paragraphs of his new book, A Billion Voices: China's Search for a Common Language.

"It conveniently brought up virtually all the Chinese language disputes that scholars have been dealing with for the last century," Moser says of why he opened his book with the viral slang term, adding: "And it goes to show that those problems – Chinese characters, dialects, language standards – are still very much with us. They haven’t been solved."

Ahead of his September 22 talk at The Bookworm, the author tells us more about how putonghua leaves even the best of us tongue tied, and why he still loves the language anyway. Below that, he also lists his favorite Chinese slang terms (just in time for Mandarin Monday).

In the book, you note that 30 percent of China's population doesn't speak putonghua. Should foreigners struggling to learn the language take comfort in that fact?

It certainly highlights how complicated the language problem is in China. To many millions of Chinese people, the official lingua franca is actually a foreign language, the same as it is for us laowai. The Chinese we foreigners are learning – putonghua – is not just “the language that Chinese people speak.” It’s got Beijing pronunciation, the Mandarin dialects for the basic grammar, literary aspects from baihua literature, and so on. It’s a bit of “Frankensteinian” hodge-podge. So we’ve got this “standard” version of Chinese since 1949, but as many as 400 million people don’t really speak it well.

You also describe what it was like before that standardization, when "networks of businessmen, bureaucrats, and the military were quite literally not speaking the same language, and the risk of disastrous miscommunication was quite real." Did your research unveil any specifics?

I’m not sure there are any specific examples, but the problem was real. We know one of the reasons that Mandarin arose, as a bureaucratic language of officialdom, was because the emperors couldn’t understand what the heck the visitors from outside regions were saying. And we know that Chinese, for hundreds of years, had to resort to writing characters on their hand or in the air in order to make themselves understood when visiting a dialect area.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes: From reading this book, and some of my other articles, people may have the impression that I harbor a deep hatred for Chinese characters. Nothing could be further from the truth! I actually have a great fascination and love for the Chinese characters. I constantly spend time trying to increase my repertoire. And there’s nothing I enjoy more than looking at calligraphy, whether it’s Wang Xizhi’s famous works or Chairman Mao’s calligraphy. I think the characters are so intriguing, so rich with culture and meaning – and so cool! But there’s so much nonsense out there about the script, I feel compelled to combat it. And yes, while I love the characters, they really are a pain in the ass to learn, I must say.

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Becuase it's Mandarin Monday, Moser was also kind enough to list off his favorite Chinese slang terms, along with some fun commentary to help make them more memorable (for study purposes, of course):

跟屁虫 gēnpìchóng

“Follow-your-ass bug,” usually referring to a small child who follows you around constantly. It can also refer to someone who can never seem to leave you alone.

羡慕,嫉妒,恨 xiànmù, jìdù, hèn

“Envy, jealousy, hate!” The three words are uttered quickly together as if it were one word. Jokingly expressing grudging congratulations at someone else’s good luck in finding a great job, etc.

躺了也中枪 tǎngzhe yě zhōng qiāng

“Getting shot at even while lying down.” Refers to someone who is the innocent victim of criticism or abuse due to involvement in an ongoing quarrel or conflict.

有异性，没人性 yǒu yìxìng, méi rénxìng

“Once you find a mate [opposite sex], you no longer have time for your friends.” Exploits the parallel structure with the character xing 性, 异性 “opposite sex” and 人性 “human feelings.”

裸考 luǒ kǎo

“Naked test taking”. Many Chinese young people, confronted with endless exams of one kind or another, frequently take a test “naked,” i.e. without studying or preparing.

啃老族 kěn lǎo zú

Literally, “nibble-the-old clan,” this term refers to the younger generation of unemployed or under-employed youth who live at home with their parents and “nibble” their parents savings.

老头乐 lǎotóulè

This is one of my favorite Beijing folk slang terms. Literally “The old man’s joy,” the term refers to a common backscratcher. Being an old man myself now, I keep a backscratcher by my side at home and the office, so I can strongly identify with this idiom.

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A Billion Voices: China's Search for a Common Language is available as an e-book on Amazon. Be sure not to miss Moser's September 22 talk at The Bookworm at 7.30pm (tickets are RMB 50, click here for more information).

This article first appeared in our magazine. Read the rest of the Beijinger July/August issue here.

More stories by this author here.

Email: kylemullin@truerun.com

Twitter: @MulKyle

WeChat: 13263495040

Photo: China Daily