ETYMOLOGY

The term gained traction during China's fitness boom around 2015. It originated on Tiger Sports Forum where users jokingly commented on NBA training videos: 'These washboard abs could shatter the backboard!' The vivid combination of animalistic imagery and athletic prowess struck a chord.

The 2017 rap competition show The Rap of China catapulted it into mainstream culture. When contestant GAI's abdominal photos leaked backstage, the hashtag #GangsterGAIswashboardabs trended with 200M+ views, spawning memes like 'Even dogs bow to these abs'.

Linguists note its cultural logic: Comparing humans to dogs neutralizes the awkwardness of direct body compliments through humor. A iconic moment occurred when esports star PDD revealed his weight loss results live-streaming, prompting comments like 'Boss, those abs should be classified as workplace hazards!'

Recent semantic expansion includes beauty tutorials teaching 'washboard abs fashion' using waist cinchers. But the core usage remains fitness-related, as seen in Bilibili workout video comments: '3:02 mark - legendary abs incoming!'

Examples:

'This vlog is iconic! Those washboard abs are lethal!''Idol shows need fitness tests - abs quality determines program quality'