shèhuìrén

Meaning:

“社会” means “society,” and ”人“ means “person.” It is a slang term mostly used in North China to refer to gangster.

It would be hard to link the word to Peppa Pig, the British porcine phenomenon that has taken kids by storm all over the world. But the fact is until recently, Peppa Pig’s image as a shehuiren, a pig smoking while adorning gold necklaces, sunglasses and tattoos proliferated Chinese social media, and became a symbol of living an unconstrained life free of societal pressures.

The Internet meme began after the first episode of Peppa Pig. Live broadcast hosts on social media platform Douyin sang rock songs while wearing tattoos of the pink pig, and the show started spawning video parodies. A two-line rhyme that roughly translates as “get your Peppa Pig tatt, shout out to your frat” also went viral.

A trailer for a feature film starring Peppa Pig that went rival this weekend in China is likely to mark the full rehabilitation of the cartoon image. The six-minute trailer touched many for its warm and subtle love between the families.

A: 你知道昨天来找学校找小明的是谁吗？看起来很社会人。

Nǐ zhīdào zuótiān lái xuéxiào zhǎo Xiǎomíng de shìshéimá？Kànqǐlái hěn shèhuìrén。

Do you know the person who came to school for Xiaoming yesterday? He looks like a gangster.

B: 是他的叔叔。其实他人不错的。

Shì tāde shūshu。Qíshí tārén bùcuò de。

He is his uncle. Actually he is a nice man.