Hyperbolic praise declaring someone or something so exceptional they've achieved permanent, deity-level status — sincere worship or ironic commentary depending on context.
YYDS is how Chinese internet users declare someone or something so exceptional they've achieved permanent, deity-level status. The phrase translates to 'eternal god' (永远的神), but functions less as literal deification and more as hyperbolic admiration compressed into four letters. You'd encounter it praising an esports champion's flawless gameplay, celebrating a cryptocurrency's resilience, or ironically commenting on someone's spectacular failure — context determines whether the worship is sincere or sarcastic.
The phrase emerged in 2019 from League of Legends commentary. Esports commentator Shiny Ruo used it while praising legendary player Uzi's performance, and it captured something specific about Chinese gaming culture: the intensity with which fans revere their champions borders on religious devotion. By 2021, YYDS had exploded beyond gaming to become one of China's Top 10 internet buzzwords, accumulating over 98 million mentions across platforms.
YYDS belongs to a linguistic shift in Chinese internet language — 'lettered words' that use pinyin initials rather than characters. This abbreviation culture prioritizes speed and versatility, letting the same four letters work across wildly different contexts. The phrase's rapid trajectory from niche gaming slang to mainstream cliché to potential overuse fatigue reveals how quickly internet language burns through its own novelty in China's hyper-connected digital ecosystem.