Singles’ Day on November 11
 
 
What is this "Singles Day" business?
In 2 days, single Chinese people will be celebrating their singleness together on "Singles Day" –  光棍节 (guāng gùn jié). November 11 (11/11) has been unofficially designated as Singles Day because it appears as 4 "1" s. 光棍 (guāng gùn) generally means bachelor but literally means "bare stick," making the name 光棍节 (guāng gùn jié) all the more appropriate.
 
Why is this year’s "Singles Day" called "Magical Singles Day"?
This year’s Singles Day is on 11/11/2011. Six ones!! Because this comes around once every hundred years (in Chinese you’d say "是百年一遇的" – shì bǎi nián yī yù de), Chinese netizens are calling it Magical Singles Day (神棍节 – shén gùn jié) or Giant Singles Day (巨型光棍节 – jù xíng guāng gùn jié).
 
How do I celebrate "Magical Singles Day" the Chinese way?
Simple – either you 脱光 (tuō guāng) or 闪分 (shǎn fēn):
 
脱光 (tuō guāng) here is not to be mistaken with 脱光 (tuō guāng) 衣服 (yī fu), which means "to completely remove your clothing." In this case, it means 摆脱光棍 (bǎi tuō guāng gùn), which means "to escape the status of being single."
 
闪分 (shǎn fēn), on the other hand, means to quickly break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and enter the ranks of the those celebrating Magical Singles Day (you could say "加入过光棍节的行列" – jiā rù ?uò guāng gùn jié de háng liè).
 
Chinese netizens’ comments on Magical Singles Day
Netizen 1)
 
"今年谁愿意陪我过神棍节，我让他明年过父亲节"
"jīnnián shuí yuànyì péi wǒ ?uò shén gùn jié, wǒ ràng tā míngnián ?uò fùqīn jié"
"If someone is willing to help me celebrate Magical Singles Day this year, I’ll give them a Father’s Day to celebrate next year"
 
Netizen 2)
 
"一百年才出现一次的巨型光棍节就要来了！… 心动不如行动! 赶紧拿起电话和你的对象分手吧!"
"yībǎinián cái chūxiàn yícì de jùxíng guāng gùn jié jiùyào lái le!…  xīndòng bùrú xíngdòng! gǎnjǐn náqǐ diànhuà hé nǐ de duìxiàng fēnshǒu ba!"
"Giant Singles Day, which happens once every hundred years, is upon us!…  Better to act than just be be thinking about it! Quick, grab your telephone and break up with your SO!"
 
Netizen 3)
 
"单身，至少今年得保持住，必须的!"
"dānshēn, zhìshǎo jīnnián děi bǎochí zhù, bìxū de! "
"Single – for at least this year, (I) absolutely have to stay that way!"
 
Netizen 4)
 
"想过巨型光棍节不？赶快分手吧，还赶得及!"
"xiǎng ?uò jùxíng guāng gùn jié bù? gǎnkuài fēnshǒu ba, hái gǎndejí! "
"Do you want to celebrate Giant Singles Day? Then go ahead and break up, there’s still time!"
 
Slang related to Singles Day
光光 (guāng guāng) —— Single guy (aka. 男光棍 – nán guāng gùn)
 
明明 (míng míng) —— Single girl (aka. 女光棍 – nǚ guāng gùn)
 
脱光 (tuō guāng) —— (For guys) To find a girlfriend and escape singleness
 
失明 (shī míng) —— (For girls) To find a boyfriend and escape singleness
 
光复(guāng fù) —— To return to single status
 
小鸟级 (xiǎo niǎo jí) —— Describes someone who is looking, but hasn’t found the right person yet (小鸟 means "chick" and emphasizes that the person hasn’t yet taken flight; 级 means level, and 小鸟级 is the first level)
 
菜鸟级 (cài niǎo jí) —— Describes someone who is in between relationships, and just resting (菜鸟 means novice or beginner)
 
肉鸟级 (ròu niǎo jí) —— Describes someone who doesn’t feel like being in a relationship to any number of reasons, but is still waiting for their Mr. Right or Ms. Right (肉鸟 – ròu niǎo is not a real word but presumably indicates a bird that’s mature and plump)
 
骨灰级 (gǔ huī jí) —— Describes someone who has a lot of experience in love, and has neared the point of being disillusioned (骨灰 – gǔ huī – means "ashes," and we’ll leave it to you to connect the dots between the literal and actual meaning here)
 
看破红尘 (kàn pò hóng chén) —— (not slang but relevant) to be disillusioned with the world
 
真命天子 (zhēn mìng tiān zǐ) —— (not slang but relevant) Mr. Right; Prince Charming
 
 
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