Chinese (Mandarin) slang
卷
juǎn
To over-compete or over-work; a try-hard who raises the bar for everyone.
- Literally:
- 卷 to roll / curl up (short for 内卷)
How it's used
卷 is the everyday, one-character version of 内卷, used as a verb or adjective: 你好卷 (“you're such a grinder”), 别卷了 (“stop out-working everyone”). Someone who never stops is a 卷王 (juǎnwáng, “king of the grind”). It's teasing rather than hostile among friends, but it always carries a hint of “you're making the rest of us look bad”.
Examples
你也太卷了吧，周末还在加班。
Nǐ yě tài juǎn le ba, zhōumò hái zài jiābān.
You're way too much of a grinder — still working overtime on the weekend?
别卷了，我们都跟不上了。
Bié juǎn le, wǒmen dōu gēn bu shàng le.
Stop raising the bar, the rest of us can't keep up.