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What Does “Xianyu” (闲鱼) Mean?

Short answer: Xianyu (闲鱼) literally means “idle fish”. It’s China’s biggest second-hand marketplace, run by Alibaba — think eBay meets Craigslist. Its official international name is Goofish (goofish.com). In Chinese internet slang, 咸鱼/闲鱼 can also mean “a slacker who has given up” (from the Stephen Chow movie line).

Why listings look like riddles

Sellers on Xianyu systematically replace brand names with coded slang (暗语 / 黑话) to dodge keyword filters:

Slang	Pinyin	Actually means
艾疯 / i疯	ài fēng	iPhone
猫腻	māo nì	Moutai (茅台 liquor)
驴牌	lǘ pái	Louis Vuitton (“donkey brand”)
谷子	gǔ zi	Anime merch (from “goods”)
吧唧	bā jī	Badge / pin (from Japanese バッジ)
纯原	chún yuán	Top-tier replica sneakers (not authentic!)
小刀	xiǎo dāo	Small price haggle
拉布布	lā bù bù	Labubu (Pop Mart)

If you search “iPhone” you’ll miss every listing titled 艾疯 — that’s the whole point.

Decode it automatically

Xianyu Dictionary (闲鱼词典) is a free Chrome extension that:

• suggests slang variants while you search on goofish.com,
• underlines and explains slang in listing titles as you browse,
• runs 100% locally — zero data collection.

👉 Install from the Chrome Web Store

Related (中文)

• 闲鱼黑话大全 — full slang glossary in Chinese
• 「纯原」replica-sneaker terms · 「小刀」haggling terms · Anti-scam phrases