“Linsanity!”
“Lincredible!”
“All he does is Lin Lin Lin!”
Jeremy Lin has not only revived the slumping NY Knicks, but he’s also enriching the English language.
And not just the English language, but also the Chinese language.
We’ve picked for you our 5 favorite Chinese puns for Jeremy Lin (aka. 林书豪 – lín shū háo) - enjoy!
5. 林疯子(lín fēng zi): Linsanity
Basically means “Linsanity”. 疯 (fēng) means crazy, and 疯子 (fēng zi) means crazy person. This is used interchangeably with 林疯狂 (lín fēng kuáng), which means essentially the same thing.
Example A)
“lín fēng zi bèi hòu de gù shi: nǐ bù zhī dào de lín shū háo”
“The story behind Linsanity: The Jeremy Lin You Don’t Know”
Example B)
“lín fēng zi jī hū zhàn jù měi guó gè dà tǐ yù wǎng zhàn de tóu tiáo”
“Linsanity takes over most of the headlines for US sports websites”
4. 林风暴(lín fēng bào): Linstorm
This refers to the Lin phenomenon sweeping the globe. 风暴(fēng bào) is a storm or tempest. A similar one is 林旋风 (lín xuàn fēng), which means Lin whirlwind.
Example A)
“林风暴横扫美国东海岸 “
“lín fēng bào héng sǎo měi guó dōng hǎi àn”
“The Lin-Storm is sweeping the US east coast”
Example B)
“yǐ xí juǎn quán měi quán yà zhōu de lín fēng bào zhèng zài gōng zhàn ōu zhōu “
“Having already swept over all of the US and Asia, the Lin-Storm is now attacking Europe”
3. 超级林天堂(chāo jí lín tiān táng): Super Lintendo
Explanation: Jeremy Lin liked to play Super Nintendo, and we all know that Super Nintendo was the best video game system of all time. 超级(chāo jí) means “super” and the Chinese characters for Nintendo are 任天堂 (rèn tiān táng). And 天堂 (tiān táng) means “heaven.”
So to break it all down: Jeremy Lin = Super Lintendo = Super Heaven.
Jeremy Lin = Heaven.
Example A)
“当有人用超级林天堂作为他的绰号后，他表示这是他最喜爱的绰号 “
“dāng yǒu rén yòng chāo jí lín tiān táng zuò wéi tā de chuò hào hòu, tā biǎo shì zhè shì tā zuì xǐ ài de chuò hào”
“When people used ‘Super Lintendo‘ for his nickname, he expressed that this was his favorite nickname”
2. 林林七(lín lín qī): 007 (aka James Bond)
The pronunciation for “0″ is similar to Lin. And fans think he’s as cool and unflappable as Bond. And until a couple of games ago, the Knicks were enjoying a 7 game winning streak under Jeremy’s leadership.
Example A)
“lín lín qī! yí lù zǒu lái tā pà guò shuí? ní kè sī guò shàng le háo rì zi “
“007! Who would he be afraid of passing on the road? Knicks are having some good days”
Note: The 豪 here is also a play on words. Normally it would be 好 (hǎo) but Jeremy is 林书豪.
Example B)
“yí gè huá lì de qī lián shèng, ràng lín shū háo yòu duō le yí gè chuò hào —— lín lín qī “
“A magnificent 7 consecutive victories has given Jeremy a new nickname: 007“
1. 零输豪(líng shū háo): Zero Loss Hao
Another nickname that appeared when Knicks were undefeated with Jeremy starting the game. It sounds a lot like Jeremy’s Chinese name, 林书豪 – lín shū háo).
零 (líng): zero.
输 (shū): to lose
Example A)
“líng shū háo, zhè shì qiú mí wèi lín shū háo qǔ de xīn chuò hào zhī yī “
“Zero Loss Hao — this is one of the new nicknames that basketball fans have for Jeremy Lin”
Example A)
“líng shū háo méi le, lín fēng kuáng jì xù″
“We can’t call him Zero Loss Hao anymore, but Linsanity continues”
What’s your favorite Chinese Jeremy Lin pun?
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haha! Awesome post. It got me smiling. I liked the 超级林天堂 and 零输毫 the most. The last one is pretty witty indeed.
Linsanity is definitely taking over. It’s definitely a fun was to learn Chinese.
Thanks! Yes watching him play always gets me pumped up. I wonder if other languages have other puns for him too.
here is another one which is popular in mainland China, 林来疯。
Nice, thanks Darren! By the way, nice blog! I esp liked your post on learning Chinese through music.