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As I remember, the phrase was used in response to a certain scenario. Unfortunately, as I tried to look it up on Google, all I find is drying out, which is certainly not the meaning I am looking for. Thus, my take is that this phrase is probably a slang.

Besides, I am not familiar with Simplified Chinese so I could be wrong, but this slang phrase seems to exist only in Traditional Chinese. Among the search results in Simplified Chinese, all I see is 干掉, which means to kill/eliminate, but as far as I know, 乾 means dry.

That said, I assume it is a slang phrase used in colloquial context. But apart from the drying out definition, what could it mean?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT:

I think it might be in response to some joke. The context was something like:

uh...乾掉了...

That's all I could remember... Any help is appreciated.

EDIT2:

According to @sonyuanyao's comment, this phrase is often used in Taiwanese TV show and possibly means not funny or embarrassing.

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  • Are you sure it's not 幹?
    – Fan Zheng
    Apr 16, 2015 at 20:17
  • 1
    @traditional Chinese users: Do you guys still distinguish 幹 and 乾 in casual writings like Facebook comments?
    – Fan Zheng
    Apr 17, 2015 at 1:39
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    It's usually used for a show while is not funny, no point, just making embarrassing situation.
    – user4072
    Apr 17, 2015 at 3:19
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    Sorry I'm not taiwanese, I can't elaborate more. This word can be heard often in Taiwan tv show, the above is what I get from their usage and relevant context. :)
    – user4072
    Apr 17, 2015 at 4:05
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    @FanZheng Yes. In traditional Chinese, these two words are not interchangeable.
    – LulalaBoss
    Apr 17, 2015 at 20:24

4 Answers 4

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I think is a slang in Taiwan

乾掉了 mean something is turning into boring(usually use after someone say a not funny joke) or the situation that people don't know what to say or react to it

ex1:

You just meet someone new to you

after greeting, you don't know what to say to him, and so does he

this embarrassed situation can be said "乾掉了"

ex2:

you are holding a show and after talking a joke

you are waiting crowd to laught

but there's no one laughing, and a embarrassed silence appear

you can say "this show 乾掉了"

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  • 1
    In some other context, "乾掉了" could also mean an awkward situation.
    – LulalaBoss
    Apr 17, 2015 at 20:22
6

乾 and 幹 are both the traditional Chinese characters and can translated to a same simplified Chinese character 干.

幹掉了 is a slang means to kill or get rid of it.

乾掉了 just means something is vaporised or dehydrate.

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  • That explains the search results I got. Thanks!
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 17, 2015 at 4:52
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Maybe it is "干掉了"? It could means literally to eliminate / get rid of / to killed.

i.e. (from some webpage):

我们的早餐，馒头太好吃了，已经干掉了
We have 'elimiated' (as in eaten) the steamed bun in our breakfast because it is too good

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4
  • Thanks for sharing, but this is not the phrase I am looking for. I am not familiar with Simplified Chinese, but I'm sure that this phrase is written as 乾掉了 in Traditional Chinese and that this should not be the meaning of it.
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 16, 2015 at 22:15
  • @ThomasHsieh I see, maybe you could include the whole phase where it might refer to something else?
    – Alex
    Apr 16, 2015 at 22:20
  • I have edited, that's all I could remember. Thanks for your answer though, I've not seen the phrase you mentioned.
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 16, 2015 at 22:30
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    @ThomasHsieh I see that you have found the correct answer!
    – Alex
    Apr 17, 2015 at 14:30
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Do you remember where you heard about it?

When people are drinking, they cheer, and they often say "bottom up" which is 干gān掉了 or 我干gān了 你随意 or something is drying, 苹果时间放长了就给干gān掉了

If you refers 干gàn掉了, it may mean some food have been eaten up, ex 我干掉了一盘菜, or something have been get rid of，ex 昨晚我们组又干掉了一个项目

Let me know what do you think !

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  • This is not the meaning I'm looking for, but I did not know this meaning as well. Thanks for sharing!
    – Thomas Hsieh
    Apr 17, 2015 at 11:44

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