A recent notice issued by the State General Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, however, says that popular online words or phrases such as ren jian bu chai ("some lies are better not exposed because life is already so hard") cannot appear in radio and TV programs, and commercials.

It is important to protect the purity of language. But given the present circumstances, some catchy words and terms coined by netizens, which follow and reflect social trends, should be treated differently.

Some favorite online words have even entered the English vocabulary. The 2013 Chinese buzzword, no zuo no die, (meaning "if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back and bite you in the ass") has been included in the Urban Dictionary, so has "you can you up, no can no bb", which is frequently used in response to criticism and means: do it if you can; if not, just shut up.

These buzzwords, whether they are official selections or sourced from the people, including netizens, mirror the diverse social cultures in China and, more importantly, subtly influence the way people think and talk. These words may be the result of pressure that people are under today or the outcome of their bitter experiences, or comments on burning social issues, but there is no denying that they are mostly incisive and can help the public, especially netizens, to vent to their feelings. Given these facts, we should critically embrace the meaningful ones and allow others to develop.

The author is a writer with China Daily. xiaolixin@chinadaily.com.cn