Meaning:

    “冒” means to “rise above the surface,” and “泡” is a “bubble.” Literally, “冒泡” means “bubbles rising to the surface.”

    Chinese netizens now use it to mean “making a remark online,” as in contrast to “潜水” (diving), which means to read other people’s posts but not to comment.

     Example:

    A: 昨天论坛里的讨论太热烈了，我都忍不住冒泡了。

    Zuótiān lùntán lǐ de tǎolùn tài rèliè le, wǒ dōu rěnbuzhù màopào le。

    The debate was so heated on the BBS that I couldn’t help making a remark.

    B: 你是说关于房地产行业放松的讨论吗？

    Nǐ shì shuō guānyú fángdìchǎn hángyè fàngsōng de tǎolùn ma?

    Are you talking about the discussion on whether to loosen up on the real estate industry?

    A: 是啊，你也在线上？

    Shì a, nǐ yě zài xiàn shang?

    Yeah. Were you online too?

    B: 我在潜水。

    Wǒ zài qiǎnshuǐ。

    I was “diving.” (I was reading the debate but didn’t speak.)