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A Study on the Internet Buzzword "Huoren Gan" and Its English Translation



Author(s)

Huang Sumin

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8080/2026.07.005

University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

The booming development of artificial intelligence (AI) has brought about a large number of standardized, highly polished and formulaic online contents in recent years. Against such a digital background, the Chinese internet buzzword “huoren gan (活人感)” has gained remarkable popularity among domestic online communities. This paper attempts to emphasize genuine human temperament, tolerable personal flaws and sincere emotional expression, which effectively counteracts the cold, mechanical and homogenized aesthetic prevalent in AI-generated works and artificially packaged online personal settings. As a typical high-context internet neologism rich in implicit cultural and emotional connotations, the term is prone to semantic attenuation and cultural misunderstanding if translated literally. Based on Edward T. Hall’s classic high- and low-context cultural theory and the translation explicitation strategy, this paper analyzes the origin and multi-layered semantics of “huoren gan.” It also re-examines the limitations of existing mainstream English translations and proposes context-aware differentiated translation solutions. Meanwhile, it concludes practical translation principles applicable to Chinese internet buzzwords, aiming to facilitate effective cross-cultural communication and improve the overseas dissemination of Chinese online culture.

huoren gan, internet buzzword, explicitation, contextual translation, intercultural communication

Huang Sumin. A Study on the Internet Buzzword "Huoren Gan" and Its English Translation. US-China Foreign Language, July 2026, Vol. 24, No. 7, 266-270 10.17265/1539-8080/2026.07.005