Nicknames and Argots used by Chinese StarCraft Community
From Liquipedia StarCraft Brood War Wiki
When StarCraft was published in 1998, it was soon popularized in Mainland China. Fanaticism soon developed in the Chinese teenage population, and never actually faded in the following decade. China is also one of the first Asian countries in which the art of StarCraft Strategy was extensively studied and developed. For years, the enthusiasm for StarCraft and StarCraft progaming, as well as the number of StarCraft progamers (such as Super, Lx and F91), is second only to South Korea.
However, StarCraft has never been officially localized in Mainland China. Although later it seems to be available in Traditional Chinese language, it's never popular in Mainland China, and virtually all Chinese player plays StarCraft in English language. However, most Chinese StarCraft players in the earlier days has relatively low English level, and have trouble to memorize the meaning, say nothing of spelling, of the names of units, structures, etc. Although abbreviations in English do exist (like zeal for Zealot or muta for Mutalisk), it's still too demanding for Chinese players to memorize them. In order to overcome such inconvenience, they developed a set of "argots" for memorizing and discussion.
This argot is mainly consist of a set of nicknames (in the Chinese language) for each unit, structure and special ability. After a decade of development, this vocabulary has already reached maturity, and has been widely used by the entire Chinese StarCraft community, in discussions between players and match commentaries. Many of the best StarCraft players, including progamers, know relatively little English and never bothered memorizing the English terms, but nonetheless play, think about and talk about the game without language problem.
Many of these nicknames, especially those for units, is far from literal translations of their English counterparts. They're consist of very simple Chinese characters, very straightforward and concise, and are often derived from the appearance or function of the unit. Therefore, they're very easy to remember.
Most of these names have scarcely anything to do with their background story, because many of the StarCraft players in China, including some of the top ones, never bothered playing "Single Player Campaign" mode; and even if they do, their English level will probably hinder them from understanding the story-line. For similar reason (and that the art of StarCraft is much better developed in China than in North American countries), Chinese players seldom ever bother visiting English-language websites on StarCraft, such as Battle.net, StarCraft Wiki or Liquipedia StarCraft Wiki, making it even less likely to learn about the background of this game. In fact, most Chinese players tend to consider StarCraft as an e-Sport RTS, which is supposed to be played in multiplayer mode only (or, at least, custom game against computer), nothing more.
Races[edit]
Terran is referred to as 人族 ren zu (the race of human).
Protoss is referred to as 神族 shen zu (the race of gods).
Zerg is referred to as 虫族 chong zu (the race of bugs)
Units[edit]
Terran[edit]
- Sometimes, SCV is called by this original acronym. But most commonly it's referred to as 农民 nong min (farmer) or gong ren (worker) because it's responsible for construction and resource gathering. Note that "gong ren" and "nong min" can also mean Probe or Drone, the counterparts of SCV.
- Marine is referred to as 机枪兵 ji qiang bing (machine-gun soldier) or simply 枪兵 qiang bing (gun soldier), because it's simply a soldier with a machine-gun in his hands.
- Medic is referred to as 护士 hu shi (nurse) or 医生 yi sheng (doctor), because that's basically what she does. Sometimes Medic is also called as 妹妹 mei mei (hot chick) because Medic is female and is fancy-looking.
- Firebat is referred to as 火兵 huo bing (fire soldier), a soldier with a firethrower.
- Ghost is referred to as 鬼兵 gui bing (ghost) or 原子弹兵 yuan zi dan bing (atomic bomb soldier), because Ghost is mainly used to nuke others.
- Vulture is referred to as 雷车 lei che (mine vehicle) or 布雷车 bu lei che (mine-laying vehicle), because it's a vehicle that lays Spider Mine.
- It's just 坦克 tan ke (transliteration of Tank)
- Goliath is referred to as 机器人 ji qi ren (robot) because it looks like one, 对空机器人 dui kong ji qi ren (anti-air robot) because the main reason of training Goliath is anti-air, or sometimes 大脚 da jiao (big feet) because of its appearance.
- Wraith is referred to as 隐飞 yin fei (cloaking aircraft) or 蕾丝 lei si (lace), because it's an air unit that can cloak itself.
- Dropship is referred to as 运输机 yun shu ji (transport plane), because it transports troops from one place to the other. The same name is also used for Protoss Shuttle
- Science Vessel is referred to as 科学球 ke xue qiu (science sphere), because its English name contains the word "science" and it looks spherical.
- Battlecruiser is referred to as 大和舰 da he jian (Yamato ship) or simply as 大和 da he (Yamato), because it's a ship with an Yamato gun.
Protoss[edit]
- Probe is referred to as 农民 nong min (farmer) or 工人 gong ren (worker) , as explained above.
- Zealot is referred to as 叉叉 cha cha (stab stab) because it stabs twice in each attack. This can be simplified as XX because the X-shape reads as cha in Chinese. It's also called as "叉兵 cha bing" (stabbing footman) or "dao bing" (saber footman).
- Dragoon is referred to as 龙骑 long qi (dragon rider) because "Dragoon" spells similar to "dragon".
- High Templar is referred to as 电兵/闪电兵 dian bing (lightning soldier) because it can fill an area with "lightning" (Psionic Storm).
- Dark Templar is referred to as 隐刀 yin dao (cloaking saber-man) because it cloaks itself and has a saber in hands.
- Shuttle is referred to as 运输机 yun shu ji (transport plane) as explained above.
- Reaver is referred to as 金甲虫/甲虫 jin jia chong (golden beetle) because it's mainly golden-colored (as most Protoss units) and it looks like a beetle.
- Observer is referred to as 小叮当/叮当 xiao ding dang (little jingle) because it's small and it sounds like "jingle bell" when selected. Some Chinese player also refer to it as OB, though the same acronym can also refer to the referee/commentary of a match.
- Scout is referred to as 侦察机/突突突 zhen cha ji (reconnaissance aircraft).
- Corsair is referred to as 海盗船 hai dao chuan (Pirate ship), which is literally translated from "corsair".
- Carrier is referred to as 航母 hang mu (aircraft carrier), literal translation. Interceptor is called as 小飞机 xiao fei ji (small aircrafts).
- Arbiter is referred to as 阿比特/燕子 yan zi (swallow) due to its appearance.
- Archon is referred to as 白球 bai qiu (white sphere) due to its appearance.
- Dark Archon is referred to as 红球 hong qiu (red sphere) due to its appearance.
Zerg[edit]
- Larva is referred to as 虫卵 chong luan (bug egg) because it's used to produce bugs (Zerg units).
- Drone is referred to as 农民 nong min (farmer) or gong ren (worker), as explained above.
- Overlord is referred to as 宿主 su zhu (host), possibly because it allows Zerg land units to "infest" it (i.e. be loaded into it). Sometimes it's also called 房子 fang zi (house) or ren kou (population), which is also the names for two structures: Terran Supply Depot and Protoss Pylon.
- Zergling is referred to as 狗 gou (dog) or 小狗 xiao gou (doggy) due to its appearance and that it attacks with bare claws. Because of this, 遛狗 liu gou (walk the dog) means control the first 6 zerglings to breach the wall-in and harass the "workers".
After finishing Metabolic boost upgrade, speedling is called 提速狗 ti su gou(speed-upgraded dog). After finishing Adrenal Glands upgrade, crackling is called 狂狗 kuang gou(crazy dog). Sometimes, 狂狗 refers to adrenal glands upgrade.
- Hydralisk is referred to as 口水 kou shui (saliva) because when a hydralisk is attacking, green liquids comes from its head, as if the liquid is responsible for the damage. A more formal nickname is 刺蛇 ci she (spike snake).
- Mutalisk is referred to as 飞龙 fei long, (flying dragon), because its shape more or less resembles dragon.
- Scourge is referred to as 自杀机 zi sha fei (suicide flyer) or simply 自杀 zi sha (suicide), which is very straightforward.
- Lurker is one rare case that many tend to call it by its English name (probably because the pronunciation is easier for Chinese speaker). For those who don't, they call it 地刺 di ci (underground spike) due to its way of attacking. Note that di ci sometimes refer to Sunken Colony, although it's obsolete and unfavorable due to confusion.
- Simply 皇后 huang hou, literal translation of "Queen".
- Defiler is referred to as 蝎子 xie zi (scorpion) or sometimes (obsolete) wu gong (centipede) due to its appearance.
- If not referred to as 守护者 shou hu zhe, literal translation of "Guardian", it's referred to as fei pang xie (flying crab) or simply 螃蟹 pang xie (crab) due to its appearance. Sometimes it's also called as 大龙 da long (big dragon).
- If not referred to as 吞噬者 tun shi zhe, literal translation of "devourer", it's referred to as cang ying (fly, the insect) due to it's appearance and that it spits filthy stuff. Sometimes it's also called as 大龙 da long (big dragon).
- Ultralisk is referred to as 大象 da xiang (elephant) or 大牛 da niu (big bull) or simply 牛 niu (bull) or 猛犸 meng ma(mammoth) due to its size and the pair of "tusks"/"horns" on its head.
- Infested Terran is reffered to as 自爆人 zi bao ren(self-explode human) due to its attacking animation and effect.
Structures[edit]
Usually, the structures are called by their two-letter hot-keys (the first letter being either "B" or "V"). For example, Terran Barracks are called "BB", Protoss Cybernetics Core is called "BY", Zerg Ultralisk Cavern is called "VU", and so on. There're are a few exceptions, however.
基地 Ji di
- It literally means base, and it's the name shared by Terran Command Center, Protoss Nexus and Zerg Hatchery because they're each other's counterpart.
地堡 Di bao
- It literally means bunker and it's the name shared by Terran Bunker, Protoss Photon Cannon and Zerg Sunken Colony because they're each other's counterpart.
气矿 Qi kuang ：It literally means gas mine and it's the name shared by Terran Refinery, Protoss Assimilator and Zerg Extractor because they're each other's counterpart.
房子 Fang zi
- It literally means house and it's the name shared by Terran Supply Depot, Protoss Pylon and Zerg Overlord, because they're each other's counterpart. They're also called ren kou (population, short for "limiter of maximum population").
一本 Yi Ben 二本 Er Ben 三本 San Ben
- They literally means 'Tier1/2/3 and refer to Zerg Hatchery/Lair/Hive according to their tech level
防空 Fang Kong
- It literally means Anti-Air and is shared by TerranMissile Turret and ZergSpore Colony because they are both anti-air used structures. Notice that ProtossPhoton Cannon is not called so.
飞龙塔/龙塔 Fei Long Ta/Long Ta
- They literally means Mutalisk Tower and refer to ZergSpire because building a Spire allows player to mutate Mutalisks.
大龙塔 Da Long Ta
- It literally means Big Mutalisk Tower and refers to ZergGreater Spire.
水晶塔 Shui Jing Ta
- It literally means Crystal Tower and refers to ProtossPylon. Because pylon looks like a tower made from crystal.
血池 xue chi or 狗池 gou chi
- It literally means Blood pool or dog pool and refers to Zerg Spawning Pool. Because spawning pool allows player to mutate 狗(zergling).
牛塔 niu ta
- It literally means bull's tower and refers to Zerg Ultralisk Cavern. Because Ultralisk Cavern allows player to mutate 牛(Ultralisk). 塔 Tower may be influenced by 飞龙塔 translation.
电池 dian chi
- It literally means battery and refers to Protoss Shield Battery for short.
附件 fu jian
- It literally means attachment and refers to Terran addons. But only Factory Machine Shop and Starport Control Tower is called 附件 for short. Because there are two kinds of addons for Command Center and Science Facility, so we don't call them 附件 to avoid equivocality.
雷达 lei da
- It literally means radar and refers to Terran Comsat Station.
Techtree/Special Ability[edit]
If a technology/special ability is not mentioned here, the Chinese call it by a term literally translated from English.
提射程 Ti she
- It literally means upgrade range, which is the name for all the upgrades that has such effect. See Upgrades for a list. Sometimes, the unit is specified. For example, long qi ti she (range upgrade for Dragoon) means Singularity Charge.
提速 Ti su
- It literally means upgrade speed, which is the name for all the upgrades that has such effect. See Upgrades for a list. Sometimes, the unit is specified. For example, 提狗速 ti gou su (upgrade Zergling's speed) means Metabolic Boost.
Other terms like 提视野 ti shi ye (sight upgrades) and ti neng liang shang xian (Maximum energy upgrades) are similar.
升攻防 Sheng Gong Fang
- It literally means upgrade attack and defence, which is the name for all the upgrades that has such effect.
Terran[edit]
Stim Pack It is called as 兴奋剂 xing fen ji (dope) or 打针 da zhen (injection).
Siege Mode It is called as 支架 zhi jia (gantry). Because tanks in Siege mode use a gantry to fix itself in Siege mode.
Spider Mine It is called as 埋雷 mai lei(Laying Mines).
Defensive Matrix It is called as 保护罩 bao hu zhao (defensive shell) or 保护套 bao hu tao (defensive condom) for its effect.
Protoss[edit]
Psionic Storm It is called as 闪电 shan dian (lightning) due to its appearance.
Stasis Field It is called as 冰冻 bing dong (freeze in ice) due to its appearance.
Recall It is called as 传送 chuan song(teleport) due to its effect.
Zerg[edit]
Dark Swarm It is called as 黄雾 huang wu (yellow fog) due to its appearance.
Plague It is called as 喷血 pen xue (spitting blood) or 红血 hong xue (red blood) due to its appearance.
Spawn Broodling It is called as 爆杀 bao sha(bomb and kill) due to its effect.
Infest Terran Command Center It is called as 变基地 bian ji di(change the base) because this ability changes opponent's Terran CC to Infested Terran Command Center.
Consume It is called as 吃 chi(eat) due to its animation. Similarly, Lich's Dark Ritual ability in Warcraft3 is also called 吃.
Ensnare It is called as 绿 lv(Green) due to its appearance.
Misc Argots[edit]
Strategies and Tactics[edit]
In general, Chinese StarCraft players share many names of strategies, tactics, builds, combos with other countries. However, they do have some unique terminologies.
SKT-1 liu(SKT-1 build)
- This term refers to a popular TvP build invented by players from SK Telecom T1, especially Midas. In Western StarCraft Community (such as Liquipedia), SKT-1 liu is called as fake double instead.
天空宇宙流 tian kong yu zhou liu(sky-and-universe build)
- This term refers to a PvZ build developed by Nal_rA that, as the names suggests, emphasize on air superiority and heavily uses Corsair for offensive. Two common variant of tian kong yu zhou liu are combining Corsair with either Carrier or Reaver Drops.
裸双 luo shuang(naked double)
- This term refers to 12Hatch (for Zerg)/ 12CC (for Terran)/ 12Nexus (for Protoss). These opening strategies directly expand before training battle units, and only have a naked natural at the beginning. Similarly, 3 Hatch before spawning pool is called 裸三 (naked third).
奥运开局 ao yun kai ju(Olympic Opening)
- This term refers to training a zealot at 14/17 in PvT matches. Because this opening appears in 2008, the year when China holds Olympic Games, and this opening have 1 Zealot and 1 Dragoon, referring to One world, One dream slogan. Notice that training 1 Zealot first in PvP is not called so.
野兵营 ye bing ying(wild/outdoor barrack)
- This term refers to proxy 2 Gates (for Protoss) or proxy 2 Rax (for Terran). Chinese players use 野... to call Proxy... strategies. Meanwhile, Protoss Gateway and Terran Barracks is all called 兵营 Barracks in Chinese community.
o9d
- This term refers to Overpool opening for Zerg. Chinese players use xd to call x pool openings, such as 9d for 9Pool and 4d for 4Pool.
四六开 Si liu kai(Four-Six opening)
- Choosing natural of another starting location as third on 3/4 player map, in order to have fourth resource point, and have 6 hatcheries in mid-game. So this strategy is called 4-6 opening.
推进 tui jin(Push and march)
- especially used in TvP to refers to Terran's attack.
大招 da zhao(Big trick or Big move)
- usually refers to Cheese in English community. Zerg's 4d (4 Pool), Protoss's Proxy 2 Gates, etc. are all 大招.
偷矿 tou kuang(Steal mineral)
- refers to expand at an unexpected location and manage no defence at all. For example, you and your opponent spawn at 1 and 11 o'clock on Fighting Spirit, expanding at 6 o'clock is defined as 偷矿.
跳 tiao (jump)
- refers to skip some necessary options for faster tech speed. For example, 龙狗跳牛 long gou tiao niu(dragon and dog jump (into) bull)(Mutalisk and zergling jump into ultralisk) means a Zerg player doesn't morph lurkers for defence, which is considered a necessary option in standard ZvT Game, and directly upgrade Hive tech and start to morph Ultralisks. 跳航母 tiao hang mu(Jump (into) carriers) means a Protoss player doesn't warp in Robotics Facility and directly warp in Stargate and Fleet Beacon to build Carriers, and Observers is considered necessary in PvT Games.
演义 yan yi
- nowadays, this Chinese word still doesn't have a proper English translation. It comes from 三国演义 San Guo Yan Yi, a Chinese classical novel, usually translated as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which reports storys in ~220A.D of 魏蜀吴 kingdoms.
In Starcraft community, Chinese players usually 龙蛇演义 long she yan yi(dragons and snakes yan yi, Mutalisks and hydralisks yan yi) to refer to ZvP mid-game combination of mutalisks and hydralisks. And 封神演义 feng shen yan yi(Block god(Protoss) yan yi) refers to using lurkers (perhaps with proxy Hatchery and Sunken Colonies) to block Protoss in his natural (especially popular on a old version of the map Medusa). It is noteworthy that 封神演义 is also name of a Chinese traditional novel, which mainly describes how Chinese ancient emperors becomes gods, here 封 does not mean block but accolade.
天地双鬼 tian di shuang gui(air and ground, two ghosts)
- used to describe Protoss +1 Zealot and +1 Corsair combination in PvZ Games. Maybe this nickname comes from Warcraft3, where players also call Undead Ghoul & Gargoyle combination as 天地双鬼.
舞 wu (dance)
- especially used to describe Dragoon and Hydralisk micro. For example 龙骑舞 long qi wu(dragoon dance) refer to awesome Dragoon micro.
一厘米架 yi li mi jia (one centimeter gantry)
- a TvT tactic. Because Siege Tanks in Siege mode have a sight of 10 but attack range of 12, so Terran players may move Siege Tanks carefully and manage to attack opponent's siege tanks without being scouted. Here gantry refers to siege mode.
撞 zhuang (crush)
- especially used to describe Zerg Scourge attacking.
甩 shuai (throw or swing)
- especially used to describe mutalisk, valkyrie, wraith and scout micro. Notice that the noun after 甩 can either be subject or object. 甩飞龙 shuai fei long(throw mutalisk) means you micro mutalisks to attack something else, but 甩枪兵 shuai qiang bing(throw marines) means your mutalisks attack marines.
封 feng (block)
- already mentioned in 演义. But it have other usage.
封水晶feng shui jing(Block crystal) means Manner Pylon in English community. Here 水晶 can either be mineral field (called by Chinese players as 水晶矿 shui jing kuang,crystal mineral) or pylon (called by Chinese players as 水晶塔 shui jing ta, Crystal tower). 封气矿feng qi kuang(block gas). Common in PvT on 2-player maps. Refers to Protoss warping in Assimilator on Terran's Vespene geyser to prevent Terran from gathering vespene gas.
龙里藏杀 long li cang sha (hide scourges in mutalisks)
- 龙-mutalisks, 里-inside, 藏-hide, 杀-suicide (Scourge). Common in ZvT Games, Zerg players use mutalisks to prevent scourges being noticed and use this combination to snipe Terran Science Vessels.
双蛋瓦斯 shuang dan wa si
- no proper English translation for this phrase. 双 means two, 蛋 means egg, 瓦斯 means gas. But this phrase means Terran players using two (or more) Science Vessels to Irradiate each other to kill Zerg Drones in ZvT Games.
同盟诈骗 tong meng zha pian (allies deception)
- used to describe the tactic that lurkers stop attack until enough enemy troops are nearby. In the past, players only know that setting allies in Diplomacy can prevent lurkers from auto attack, so this tactic is called allies deception. Even current players have other way (attacking a structure out or lurker's range) to achieve the same target, the name remains.
慢投LK (slow drop lurker)
- a Zerg player drops lurker into opponent's base without Overlord Speed Upgrade. Slow drop refers to no Pneumatized carapace upgrade, LK is abbreviation for Lurker.
建筑学 jian zhu xue (architecture)
- wall-in or sim city in English community. It can also used in mid and late games, if so, it refers to thoroughout structure layout. For example, if a Protoss player places Gateways (usually 15+) messily and Dragoons are hard to walk out, we say 他建筑学很差 (his architecture is bad).
拍基地 pai ji di (clap/slap base) or 写字 xie zi(write alphabet)
- an offensive behavior. Refers to player who have a big advantage in game building 基地 (Terran CC, Zerg Hatchery, Protoss Nexus) in opponent's base, or using troops to form alphabets.
开图 kai tu (Open map)
- this phrase have two meanings:
1. Cheating method, use cheater or UMS map to have vision of the entire map. 2. Share vision with opponent in Diplomacy. But it can be offensive or kind. Player who have a big advantage can 开图 to show his advantage to opponent and urge his opponent to surrender. Two players with big MMR difference can also discuss 开图 to give the weaker one scouting advantage in matches.
吃蛋 chi dan (eat eggs)
- this phrase have three meanings:
1. Defilers consume eggs to gain energy. Consume is called 吃, and Zerg eggs is called 蛋. 2. A player got 0-3 in bo5 game or 0-4 in bo7 game, etc. Because number 0 is similar to egg in appearance, so this behavior is called 吃蛋. 3. A player got nuked in game by Terran opponent. Because Nuclear Missile is translated as 原子弹 yuan zi dan(atomic bomb), 弹 and 蛋 have the same pronunciation. So getting nuked is called 吃蛋.
撒雷达/洒雷达 sa lei da(spill radars)
- Both phrases have same pronunciation, so I, the editor also don't know which character should be used. This behavior refers to Using comsat station to cast scanner sweep. See Structures part in this page, Comsat station is called 雷达(radar). And the noun 雷达 here have a quantifier of 把 ba(bunch). For example, 撒一把雷达 sa yi ba lei da(Spill a bunch of radar) means using scanner sweep ability once.
挂附件 gua fu jian(hang attachments)
- See Structures part in this page. 附件 means Terran addons, especially machine shop and control tower. This phrase means adding on machine shops for factories or control towers for starports. Similarly, adding on comsat stations for command centers is called 挂雷达 gua lei da(hanging a radar).
内战 nei zhan(civil war)
- It means mirror in English community and refers to PvP, TvT and ZvZ matches. The word mirror (镜像 jing xiang) is used to describe both players using the same opening in a mirror match.
穿矿 chuan kuang((walking) through minerals)
- it means using Gather command to avoid collision and let workers reach the site specified directly.
掏菊花 tao ju hua(taking out ass)
- it means destroying natural structures behind enemy's base and directly attack through that way on some maps (e.g. Heartbreak Ridge, Dark Origin). 菊花 ju hua originally means chrysanthemum, a kind of flower, but has been having an extended meaning of human's ass since ~1990s on Japanese and Chinese Internet.
违章建筑 wei zhang jian zhu(illegal structures)
- refers to Terran Supply Depots and Missile Turrets in front of their troops, especially those build on the way of attacking.
路灯 lu deng (street lamp)
- refers to single, cheap troops placed at important points on the map for scouting, usually Zerglings, Spider mines and pylons.
地毯式空投 di tan shi kong tou (carpet-like drop)
- refers to mass drop.
偷农民 tou nong min (steal farmer)
- can be only used by Zerg. It means build an extractor - morph a drone - cancel the extractor trick, by doing so, Zerg can have 10/9 control. See Units part of this page, drones are called 农民.
C矿 C kuang (C mineral)
- on specific (actually, most, nowadays) maps, on specific starting locations (usually locations with mineral fields on the right side), a player can use Return Cargo (whose hotkey is C) command to have higher gathering efficiency. This behavior is called C矿.
本座 ben zuo (bonjwa)
- see https://liquipedia.net/starcraft/Bonjwa. 本座 in Chinese usually appears in mystic or heroic novels and is used by omnipotent people to call themselves.