薅羊毛

Fleece the system / Hunting for deals
hāo yángmáo
What Does It Mean?

Literally 'plucking wool from a sheep,' this meme describes the art of squeezing maximum freebies, cashback, discount coupons, and promotional loopholes out of apps, e-commerce platforms, and companies. Think of it as extreme couponing meets internet savvy — you're the clever sheep-shearer, and corporations are the very woolly sheep. Anyone who stacks promo codes, abuses new-user sign-up bonuses, or hunts flash sales is proudly 薅羊毛-ing.

Cultural Context

Around 2018, China's tech giants — Alibaba, JD, Meituan, DiDi — were locked in fierce subsidy wars, flooding users with coupons and cashback to capture market share. Savvy consumers learned to game these promotions systematically. The meme captured a cultural shift where being frugal and clever about extracting corporate generosity became a badge of honor rather than a sign of poverty, especially among young urban consumers.

中文解释

利用平台优惠、漏洞或补贴,以极低成本获取利益的行为,泛指薅取各种便宜。

How It's Used
双十一我薅了好几百块的羊毛,买了一堆平时舍不得买的东西。
I scored hundreds of yuan in deals during Double 11 and bought a bunch of stuff I'd normally never splurge on.
这个APP新用户有红包,快去薅羊毛!
This app is giving red packets to new users — go grab those freebies while you can!
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