Differences between Internet Language and Traditional Idioms

Internet terms are not officially recognized by the state, while traditional idioms are included in dictionaries, recognized by the state and widely used in social life.

It is superficial to regard online language as a successful inheritance of traditional culture or a successful absorption of western culture. Because both traditional idioms and western abbreviations have their own logic and strategies in expression, this is not a simple word-formation game. Typical traditional idioms usually have three levels of structure, the first is the meaning expressed by the idiom, the second is the story used to facilitate the listener to understand this meaning, and the last is the language form that can make this meaning accurately grasped by people. This is the "figurative speech" structure of interpersonal communication, which originated from China's traditional theory of "speech and meaning".

Relevant persons of the State Language Committee have pointed out that network language should not only be concerned and standardized, but also should not be taken too seriously, because it is, after all, a communication tool between specific objects in a specific region. At present, "new idioms" are still in the stage of cultural phenomenon, and there is still a long way to go to become real idioms.