Chinese (Mandarin) slang
凡尔赛
fán ěr sài
A humblebrag: showing off while pretending to complain or be modest.
- Literally:
- Versailles — a sound transliteration; the characters are chosen for sound, not meaning
How it's used
Named after the Palace of Versailles and its aristocratic luxury, 凡尔赛 (or 凡尔赛文学, “Versailles literature”) went viral in 2020 for posts like “ugh, my boyfriend bought me another car I didn't want”. Calling someone 凡尔赛 is teasing — you've spotted the brag. It's used as an adjective or verb: 别凡尔赛了 (“quit humblebragging”).
Examples
她说“好烦啊，男朋友又送我一个包”，太凡尔赛了。
Tā shuō “hǎo fán a, nánpéngyou yòu sòng wǒ yí ge bāo”, tài fán'ěrsài le.
She said “Ugh, so annoying, my boyfriend gave me another handbag” — such a humblebrag.
别凡尔赛了，考了满分还说自己没复习。
Bié fán'ěrsài le, kǎo le mǎnfēn hái shuō zìjǐ méi fùxí.
Quit humblebragging — you got full marks and you're still saying you didn't study.