According to the 《教育部國語辭典》(Ministry of Education's Mandarin Dictionary), people in northern China and Sichuan refer to mice as "耗子" (hàozǐ) because they are good at consuming and wasting food.
Therefore, when I first saw the character 耗, I immediately thought of a mouse gnawing on food indoors. This explains my initial reaction when I first saw the popular slogan, "拒絕內耗." I thought it meant "refusing to have mice in the house," which is, quite frankly, a very necessary part of life!
Jokes aside, the verb "耗" inherently means to reduce, consume, or deplete.
So, what exactly does "內耗" mean? The term originated in physics and mechanical engineering to refer to the energy wasted due to internal friction when a machine is running. Later, management circles borrowed the term to describe the waste of resources within a team caused by poor communication or office politics.
Nowadays, it has become the most common keyword in self-help and personal growth articles: 內耗 (mental drain). It describes a state in which we obsessively overthink and worry about things that haven't happened yet. As a result, even though we haven't done any physical labor, we feel completely exhausted, both physically and mentally.
Nowadays, it has become the most common keyword in self-help and personal growth articles: 內耗 (mental drain). It describes a state in which we obsessively overthink and worry about things that haven't happened yet. As a result, even though we haven't done any physical labor, we feel completely exhausted, both physically and mentally.
To combat this, the internet generation has come up with their own solution:
「放下個人素質，享受缺德人生。拒絕精神內耗，有事直接發瘋。」
(Let go of your personal standards, enjoy an unhinged life. Reject mental drain, and go crazy when things happen.)
After all, rather than letting that invisible "mouse" in your mind wear you down, it's better to occasionally "go unhinged" and cut yourself some slack!
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