Meaning:

    “遛” means to “walk a pet or take a walk oneself,” “蟹” means a “crab,” and “哥” is the common address for a young man which literally means “brother.” This term refers to a young man who walked a few crabs bearing tags written with “high land price” and “high housing price” at a housing fair held at Nanjing International Expo Center in East China’s Jiangsu Province on Sept. 20. As crabs walk sideways, which in the Chinese language context implies to “play the bully,” the man used the crabs to protest at high housing prices.

    Example:

    A: 这张照片真奇怪，这个人在干什么？

    Zhèzhāng zhàopiān zhēn qíguài, zhège rén zài gàn shénme?

    This photo is weird. What’s this guy doing?

    B: 这是遛蟹哥。

    Zhèshì lìuxiègē。

    This is the “crab-walking guy.”

    A: 他干嘛不遛狗却遛螃蟹呀？

    Tā gànmá bù lìugǒu què lìu pángxiè ya?

    Why did he walk crabs instead of dogs?

    B: 他在南京秋季房展会上遛螃蟹，抗议高房价横行霸道。

    Tā zài nánjīng qīujì fángzhǎn huì shàng lìu pángxiè, kàngyì gāo fángjià héngxíng-bàdào。

    He was walking crabs at the fall housing fair in Nanjing to protest high housing prices that “bullied” common salary earners.