Meaning:

    “到” means “to the point of,” and “cry” is simply the English word “cry.” As there is a well-known Chinese idiom “喜极而泣,” which is translated as “tears of joy,” it’s not difficult to understand this newly coined term (literally: to the point that one would cry). It’s unclear where or when this buzzword came up, but Chinese netizens now use it as a modifier that is added to all kinds of words. The meaning is simply “extremely,” kind of similar to “不要不要的” that we explained in this column yesterday.

    Example:

    A: 国庆节你去哪里了？

    Guōqìngjié nǐ qù nǎlǐ le?

    Where did you go during the National Day holiday?

    B: 回老家了，家乡的各种小吃真是好吃到cry。你呢？

    Huí lǎojiā le, jiāxiāng de gèzhǒng xiǎochī zhēnshì hǎochīdàokerài。Nǐ ne?

    I went back to my hometown. The snacks of my hometown were super yummy. How about you?

    A: 我去看了电影《港囧》，笑到cry。

    Wǒ qù kàn le diànyǐng gǎngjiǒng, xiàodàokerài。

    I went to see the movie “Lost in Hong Kong.” It’s totally hilarious.