Bing Chilling is a phrase born from John Cena‘s earnest attempt at saying “ice cream” in Chinese. Now, it’s become so much more than that. As the meme has spread, the phrase has come to be used as a neutral response to any basic question.
Cena begins speaking Mandarin and tries to pronounce 冰淇淋 (bīng qílín). The word means “ice cream” in Chinese, but it was Cena’s pronunciation in his song about ice cream that caught viewers’ attention.
The video, shot in 2021 and shared on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, was created to promote Fast & Furious 9.