Meaning:

    “求” means to “seek, “心理阴影” means “trauma,” and “面积” means “size.” As the literal translation for “心理阴影” is “psychological shadow,” Chinese netizens play on the words and coined the phrase, assuming that there is an actual shadow whose size could be measured and calculated. The first quotes, involving someone named Xiaoming, appeared to be jokes in the form of math problems. “Xiaoming sang poorly and his classmates mocked him, leaving a shadow in his heart. Please seek the size of that shadow.” The phrase quickly caught on among netizens, who playfully use it when they assume someone must be very much hurt by something.

    Example:

    A: 你看了马伊琍演的新电视剧吗？

    Nǐ kàn le mǎyīlì yǎn de xīn diànshìjù ma?

    Have you watched the new TV series starring Ma Yili?

    B: 没有，怎么了？

    Méiyǒu, zěnme le?

    Not yet. What’s up?

    A: 激情戏好多啊，观众大呼求文章的心理阴影面积。

    Jīqíng xì hǎo duō a, guānzhòng dàhū qíu wénzhāng de xīnlǐ yīnyǐng miànjī。

    The show is full of passionate makeout scenes, and the audiences have tried to seek out the “size of shadow” in Wen Zhang’s heart. (Wen is Ma’s real-life husband, and the audiences joked that he must be very hurt watching the show.)