Meaning:

    “洪荒” literally means “floods and wilderness,” “之” is equivalent to “of,” and “力” means “power.” “The power of floods and wilderness” mentions prehistoric times when the wilderness was frequently flooded as a result of earthquakes and other forms of geologic movement. The power behind those movements was immense. The term became an Internet meme after Chinese woman swimmer Fu Yuanhui used it jokingly during an interview at the Rio Olympics. Describing her all-out efforts in the semifinal, Fu most probably has borrowed the term from popular Chinese TV show “The Journey of Flower.” In that show, the term refers to a supernatural power endowed to the heroine by some god. People now use it to refer to “unreserved efforts” or “a crushingly strong power or momentum.”

    Example:

    A: 你能不能帮我一起把这个沙发搬到客厅？

    Nǐ néngbùnéng bāng wǒ yīqǐ bǎ zhègè shāfā bān dào kètīng?

    Can you help me move this sofa into the living room?

    B: 还是再叫个人来帮忙吧。这么重的东西，我俩用洪荒之力也搬不动啊。

    Háishì zài jiào gè rén lái bāngmáng ba。Zhème zhòng de dōngxī, wǒliǎ yòng hónghuāngzhīlì yě bān bù dòng a。

    Better ask more people to help. The sofa is so heavy that lifting it is absolutely beyond our power, no matter how hard we try.