# 装/耍/擺酷



## lillebror

Hello,

Could anyone please explain what 擺酷 means and when it's used and by whom


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## xiaolijie

Can you give us some context for the word (the source for it or the sentence it comes in), lillebror ?


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## lillebror

Well, actually I just saw the phrase 我擺酷 online with no context whatsoever but I googled it and found this title for an article 長春大學生扮“鋼鐵俠”街頭擺酷 as an example. It must be some sort of a slang expression, I guess. It seems to be most frequently used with pictures posted online


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## tarlou

It's not a difficult word actually...
擺 means to stand or sit in a pose. 酷 means "cool". 擺酷 means to stand or sit in a cool way.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you, lillebror, for giving the context. 
I hope someone who is familiar with Chinese slang will be able to help you, but my initial impression is that it may mean something like "to play cool" or even "to show off". Anyway, let's wait for those who know better 

Edit: Hi tarlou! Didn't see your post!


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## lillebror

Thanks a lot, tarlou and xiaolijie!


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## tarlou

I think xiaolijie's explanation is more accurate. It's basically 故意擺出很酷的樣子, where 酷 means handsome and perhaps not easy to talk to. Maybe it's not limited to standing and sitting, for example wearing a cool hat is also counted... I don't know.

It's an Internet slang used mostly by younger people (I think). I'm also not very familiar with this word.


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## stellari

I agree with tarlou that 擺酷 can be understood as （故意）擺出很酷的樣子. Here 擺 means 'to show off', 'to make something easily seen'. 酷 is just the Chinese way to write the English word 'cool', whatever your definition of 'cool' is. So basically 擺酷 means 'to act cool in a showing-off way (to maximize the probability that others would notice)'. A similar expression is 擺闊 ('to show off the wealth'). 
BTW, 擺酷 is not a very common expression and I rarely used it myself.


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## Daffodil100

> BTW, 擺酷 is not a very common expression and I rarely used it myself.





> It's an Internet slang used mostly by younger people (I think). I'm also not very familiar with this word.




擺酷 is a colloquial word, but it is not uncommon. Or Chinese major media outlets wouldn't use it. It doesn't simply  Internet slang. In 1970s, it was popular in Taiwan. I assume that the mainland just follows suit as more and more Taiwanese culture have been introduced to the mainland. Internet slang is applied to the Internet, i.e. 88, lol, but I doubt 擺酷 is derived from the Internet as computers were not popular that that time in China.


Here are some titles of reports:



> 醉酒开车撞电杆交警面前还摆酷



Source: Sohu - Chinese renowned website

http://roll.sohu.com/20130619/n379199457.shtml




> 男人为什么喜欢摆酷(组图)



Source: Sina- is the largest Chinese-language infotainment web port



> 男子长期吸毒向赌友摆酷：我家有个“军火库”--法治频道--中青在线






> 大学生扮“钢铁侠”街头摆酷


Source: Xinhua Net


Generally the word is* popular *among younger generations from post- 70s, to 90s or post 20s, who try to be trendy and use the word. 酷 is the transliteration of cool in English. It has been a loadword since 1990s in the mainland of China. I hardly hear post-60s, or late post-60s Chinese use it in my neck of woods or people who are over 50-60 year old say it from any TV dramas I watched.

I am afraid there's no exact word with Chinese orgin to match 酷。In Chinese, it means someoe or somethng is very good, awesome, bold, unique, swell and trendy with individulal characteristics. However it is kinda odd to conservative people

酷 is an adjective. i.e. 你的发型很酷 = your hairstyle is very unique, trendy, awesome. (Younger people would like to try anything new, and they would call it 酷, and older (and) conservative people might cannot tolerate it. i.e. a man wears earring.)

擺酷：verb 擺 + adj 酷 . 擺： means show off (it might be with a little derogatory connotation, but depends on the context as 擺= show off) 

I would say it is good to people who are post-70s, and most of them will well-understand. And it would be better to avoid using in formal situations.


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## tarlou

Daffodil100 said:


> It doesn't simply  Internet slang. In 1970s, it was popular in Taiwan.



OK, I see. This word is uncommon in mainland actually. I have seen this only from Internet (possibly they were affected by Taiwan media), and you can only expect post 1995 to use this word. 耍帅, 装酷, etc are more common in mainland.


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## Daffodil100

I am not sure. I have illustrated it with examples from news which are available in major Chinese websites. For news, journalists unlikely use jargon to the nation-wide readers.

It might not be mannerism of yours or people around your area. On the other hand, it depends on the age range of people.


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## tarlou

I'm not sure if there is any misunderstanding. It's definitely not a jargon. With a context, even foreign friends (e.g. xiaolijie) can understand it without any problem. It is definitely fine to use it to write news occasionally, people are able to understand it. I say it's uncommon because I'm living in the language environment and I know.


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## stellari

tarlou said:


> OK, I see. This word is uncommon in mainland actually. I have seen this only from Internet (possibly they were affected by Taiwan media), and you can only expect post 1995 to use this word. 耍帅, 装酷, etc are more common in mainland.



I too hear 耍帅(酷) ,装酷 a lot more often in daily conversations. I see nothing wrong using 摆酷 but it is definitely less heard in mainland China. It looks perfectly good on news reports though. As a matter of fact, it is probably the best choice in the title: 長春大學生扮“鋼鐵俠”街頭擺酷, because there 'Ironman' guys were literally 'displaying' or 'showing off' their coolness.


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## lillebror

Thanks a lot everyone. I think I got it now


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## BODYholic

I have no problem understanding 擺酷 but just like many of the rest here, 装酷/耍酷 is more widely used and readily understood from where I am. In fact, we are not limited to 擺/装/耍 + 酷, we can even invent terms like 秀酷, 炫酷 and more.


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## panzerfaust0

Context: those god-awful commercials on youtube, the ones promoting Katy Perry's new fragrance called "Killer queen" or some such queerness.  She would 耍酷 in each commercial and then end it by placing a crown on her head all whilst saying, "on the throne". GOD I cannot stand it.

Anyway, how to say 耍酷 in English?  Thanks.


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## Lamb67

let on see #2 please.

You would not believe the length those stars have gone for to let you on.


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