pòfáng (pò·fáng {break [through]}; destroy · defending → [(video games) break through defences | make sb. feel upset/shocked/moved/touched/etc.] 破防) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”
As 2021 drew to a close, articles appeared on the Internet with lists of Chinese (Mandarin) expressions that were deemed to have been significant in 2021, perhaps reflecting what had been on the minds of many Chinese people in that year.
One of the expressions that appears on these lists is this week’s MEotW, “pòfáng (pò·fáng {break [through]}; destroy · defending → [(video games) break through defences | make sb. feel upset/shocked/moved/touched/etc.] 破防)”.
Here are some quotes from some of these articles about “pòfáng (pò·fáng {break [through]}; destroy · defending → [(video games) break through defences | make sb. feel upset/shocked/moved/touched/etc.] 破防)”:
破防 pòfáng
Defense torn down
Originally a term used in online games, this phrase has been taken up by netizens to indicate the emotional impact on oneself from some event or news.
“Defense broken (破防 pòfáng)” is another buzzword to describe mental collapse that emerged in 2021. The term conveys being moved, shocked, or touched. An emotional scene in a movie or news of heroism online often causes netizens to say: “I burst into tears after seeing these defense breaking moments (看到这些破防瞬间, 我泪奔了 Kàndào zhèxiē pòfáng shùnjiān, wǒ lèibēn le).”
—“Internet Slang Terms that Defined 2021”
I personally have not yet heard “pòfáng (pò·fáng {break [through]}; destroy · defending → [(video games) break through defences | make sb. feel upset/shocked/moved/touched/etc.] 破防)” used in actual conversation, so I don’t have a personal feel for when it may or may not be appropriate to use this expression. Hopefully the above explanations provide some guidance. As with any relatively colloquial or informal expression, we Mandarin field language learners should use our discretion about when and how we use “pòfáng (pò·fáng {break [through]}; destroy · defending → [(video games) break through defences | make sb. feel upset/shocked/moved/touched/etc.] 破防)”, if we do. At the least, it’s nice to know what it means, at least approximately, if we hear it or read it somewhere.