内卷

What does 内卷 mean?

内卷 (often shortened to 卷) describes a situation where people compete so intensely for limited rewards that the effort keeps rising while the payoff stays the same — like everyone standing up at a concert so nobody sees better. Calling someone 卷王 ("king of involution") means they overwork and raise the bar for everyone else.

Where does 内卷 come from?

The word is a translation of "involution", an academic term used by anthropologist Clifford Geertz. It broke into everyday speech in 2020 when photos of top university students working on laptops while riding bikes went viral as an image of hyper-competition.

How to use 内卷

• 同事都十点下班，太卷了。
  Tóngshì dōu shí diǎn xiàbān, tài juǎn le.
  My coworkers all leave at 10pm — the involution is insane.
• 别卷了，大家都按时下班吧。
  Bié juǎn le, dàjiā dōu ànshí xiàbān ba.
  Stop the rat race — let's all just leave on time.