Chinese Internet word: diaosi 屌丝

What is diaosi?
The word diaosi was coined first by single, young men who feel they have dead-end lives. Generally, men in this category don’t earn enough, are not good looking, and have difficulty winning promotion.
“屌丝”这个词最初是由那些感到生活没出路的年轻单身汉们创造出来的。通常这类男性挣钱不多，其貌不扬，晋升无望。
Unlike their upper-class contemporaries, they lack influential families, useful social networks for their careers, and most importantly, suitable women to marry.
与处于社会高层的同龄人相比，他们缺少有权势的家庭背景，没有可以帮助他们发展事业的社会关系，最重要的是，没有合适的结婚对象。
“I’m just a diaosi, poor and plain-looking, who will marry me?” It’s a common sentiment uttered by one of them, which is half self-mockery, half reality.
“我只是个屌丝，穷困潦倒且相貌平平，谁会嫁给我呢？”“屌丝一族”常常会这样一半自嘲、一半现实地感慨到。
Many young men call themselves diaosi because they feel they are among the lowest echelons of society. They suffer low self-esteem and have stopped trying to improve their lives.
很多年轻人自称“屌丝”，因为他们觉得自己处于社会最底层。他们缺乏自尊，也不再为新生活而奋斗。

The origin of diaosi
The word originated in the Baidu.com’s Tiebar (a top Chinese bulletin board system) of soccer player Li Yi. There, fans of Li, who are called yisi in Chinese, not only talk about soccer but moan about their lives, work and relationships.
该词起源于足球运动员李毅的百度贴吧（国内知名的BBS）。李毅的球迷“毅丝”们在贴吧里不仅谈论足球，还抱怨自己对生活、工作与感情的不满。
Yisi, who are known for their rude and dirty language, were given the name diaosi by others who have seen their posts.
“毅丝”以语言粗鲁，脏话连篇而闻名，看过他们帖子的人便给他们起了“屌丝”这一称号。

The background of diaosi
In just two months, the latest buzzword from the Internet, diaosi, has spread so much that it can be found everywher–from online forums to micro blogs. Many people even call themselves diaosi. It’s not the first time a term has gone viral on the Internet in China. However, why is the word diaosi so popular that it has become a cultural phenomenon? Here, we tell you everything you want to know about it.
最新网络流行语“屌丝”已传播如此之广，从论坛到微博上随处可见。很多人甚至自称屌丝。在中国，这已不是首次某一词汇走红网络了。然而，为什么“屌丝”一词如此大受欢迎，以至于已成为一种文化现象？这里，我们为你一一解惑。