Meaning:

    Literally the sentence means “friendship, like a real ship, tips over whenever wherever.” A popular saying on Chinese social media lately, it originated from comic strips by cartoonist Nandongni, meaning that people’s friendships can be easily broken. It has gone viral in people’s Wechat Moments, and Chinese netizens have created other funny sayings derived from this sentence. For example: 爱情的巨轮说沉就沉 (The giant ship of a romantic relationship sinks all of a sudden); 刚吃的晚饭说饿就饿 (Having finished dinner just a moment ago, I already feel hungry now). The Chinese structure “说... 就...” means “very quickly, without a warning.”

    Example:

    A: 去校门口帮我拿个快递吧。

    Qù xiào ménkǒu bāng wǒ ná gè kuàidì ba。

    Please help pick up my parcel at the school gate.

    B: 我不在学校啊。

    Wǒ bù zài xuéxiào a。

    But I’m not on campus now.

    C: 友谊的小船说翻就翻。

    Yǒuyì de xiǎochuán shuōfānjìufān。

    Friendship, like a real ship, tips over whenever wherever.