Meaning:

    “脱” means to “strip” or “get rid of,” and

    “光” means “nothing left.” Originally meaning to “strip down naked,” Chinese netizens use the term joking to mean “bidding farewell to singledom,” as “光” here is short for “光棍,” the nickname for a single person which literally means “a stick with nothing attached to it.” As the number 1 resembles a stick, Chinese people now designate Nov. 11 the “Singles’ Day.” While online retailers are celebrating the day with big sales, many proclaim that they will try to “脱光” before the day arrives.

    Example:

    A: 光棍节你打算干点什么？

    Guānggùn jié nǐ dǎsuàn gàn diǎn shénme?

    What’s your plan for Singles’ Day?

    B: 还能干什么？网购呀，这么多电商在打折。

    Hái néng gàn shénme? Wǎnggòu ya, zhème duō diànshāng zài dǎzhé。

    What else? I will do some online shopping, as so many retailers offer big sales.

    A: 天天上网不是办法，还是认真找人相亲，争取早日脱光吧。

    Tiāntián shàngwǎng bùshì bànfǎ, háishì rènzhēn zhǎorén xiāngqīn, zhēngqǔ zǎorì tuōguāng ba。

    It’s not good for you to be hooked online all the time. You’d better get serious about dating arrangements and try to bid farewell to singledom.

    B: 这种事可不是认真就能成功的呀。

    Zhèzhǒng shì kě bùshì rènzhēn jìu néng chēnggōng de ya。

    Sometimes this kind of thing just doesn’t work no matter how serious you are.