chī tǔ: 吃土 - To Be Broke (Literally: "To Eat Dirt")

Keywords: chī tǔ, 吃土, eat dirt, broke in Chinese, Chinese slang for no money, running out of money, what does chi tu mean, 月光族 (yuèguāngzú), Double 11 shopping, Chinese internet slang.

Summary: Discover the meaning of the popular Chinese internet slang 吃土 (chī tǔ), which literally means “to eat dirt.” Learn how this humorous and visual term is used by young people in China to say they're broke or have no money, especially after a big shopping spree like the Double 11 festival. This complete guide covers its cultural context, practical usage in modern conversation, and provides many example sentences for beginner learners of Mandarin Chinese.

Pinyin (with tone marks): chī tǔ

Part of Speech: Verb Phrase / Internet Slang

HSK Level: N/A

Concise Definition: To be so poor that one has nothing left to eat but dirt; to be broke.

In a Nutshell: 吃土 is a highly popular and informal slang term used to humorously complain about having no money. Imagine you've just spent your last dollar on a new phone or concert tickets. You joke to your friends, “Well, it looks like I'll be eating dirt for the rest of the month.” That's the exact feeling of 吃土. It's self-deprecating, highly visual, and a very common way for young Chinese people to talk about being temporarily out of cash, especially online.

吃 (chī): To eat. This character is composed of a mouth radical (口) on the left, and a phonetic component (乞) on the right. It straightforwardly represents the action of eating.

土 (tǔ): Dirt, soil, earth. This character is a simple pictogram of a mound of earth, or perhaps a small plant sprouting from the ground line.

When combined, 吃土 (chī tǔ) literally means “to eat dirt.” This isn't meant to be taken seriously. The combination creates a powerful and exaggerated image of having absolutely no money left for food, forcing one to resort to eating soil. It's this hyperbole that makes the term funny and memorable.

吃土 is a product of modern China's vibrant internet culture and booming e-commerce scene. The term exploded in popularity with the rise of massive online shopping festivals like 双十一 (shuāng shíyī), or “Double 11” (November 11th), which is the world's largest shopping day.

Young people would splurge on heavily discounted items during these sales and then take to social media to collectively joke about their subsequent financial emptiness. Posting “我要吃土了” (I'm going to have to eat dirt now) became a shared, relatable ritual.

Comparison to Western Concepts: The closest English equivalent is saying “I'm broke” or “I'm skint.” However, 吃土 is more specific and culturally loaded. While “I'm broke” can be a serious statement, 吃土 is almost always used humorously to describe a temporary, and often self-inflicted, state of being moneyless due to consumerism. It's less about true poverty and more about the “first-world problem” of overspending on non-essential goods. It reflects a modern value system where consumption and the shared online experience of it are central.

Formality: Strictly informal. Use it with friends, peers, and on social media platforms like Weibo (微博) and WeChat (微信). Avoid it in any formal, professional, or academic setting.

Connotation: Humorous, self-deprecating, and light-hearted. It's a way to complain without sounding truly desperate. It creates a sense of camaraderie with others who have also overspent.

Figurative, Not Literal: The most crucial point for a learner is that 吃土 is never literal. It is 100% figurative hyperbole. Do not ask if someone is actually eating soil; this will cause confusion and break the humorous intent.

Informal Use Only: Never use this term in a formal context. You would not tell your boss, a professor, or an elder you are not close with that you are “eating dirt.” It would sound childish and unprofessional. Stick to phrases like 我最近手头有点紧 (wǒ zuìjìn shǒutóu yǒudiǎn jǐn - “I'm a bit tight on money recently”).

Not for Serious Poverty: 吃土 is used for temporary, lifestyle-related cash flow problems. It is not used to describe actual, serious poverty or hardship. Using it to describe someone who is genuinely struggling would be insensitive and inappropriate. The correct term for serious poverty is 贫穷 (pínqióng).

月光族 (yuèguāngzú): “Moonlight clan.” A term for people who spend their entire monthly salary before the next one arrives. They are the people most likely to be 吃土 at the end of the month.

剁手 (duò shǒu): “To chop off one's hands.” A dramatic and funny way to say you need to stop yourself from online shopping. This is the action that often leads to 吃土.

喝西北风 (hē xīběi fēng): “To drink the northwest wind.” A similar, older slang phrase for having no food or money. It is often used alongside 吃土 for emphasis.

双十一 (shuāng shíyī): “Double 11” (November 11th). The massive shopping festival on Alibaba's Taobao/Tmall that is the single biggest cultural event associated with 吃土.

穷 (qióng): The standard, neutral-to-serious adjective for “poor.” 吃土 is a slangy, temporary way of saying you feel `穷`.

囊中羞涩 (náng zhōng xiū sè): “Shy in the purse.” A beautiful, literary idiom (chengyu) for being short of money. It is the formal/poetic opposite of the very informal 吃土.

吃圭 (chī guī): “To eat guī (a jade tablet).” A much older, more obscure term that is a visual pun for eating dirt (圭 looks like two 土 stacked) and is considered a possible origin for the modern slang.