Hi there, I would like to know: what this word 妹控 means? I tried to check this everytime but don't understand. Is it something about the sister? Thanks for your answers
It means 恋妹情结 ("sister complex", a term of current pop culture, originated from Japanese anime). It refers to a person's unconscious desire to sexually possess his sister and is sometimes used to tease someone who is overprotective of his sister. You are not alone. I didn't know what it meant until I looked it up on Google. I assume many Mandarin speakers, especially the older generations, would not understand it either. "控" is a 中文音譯 of Japanese コン "complex" (a short form of コンプレックス, which is in turn the 日語音譯 of English "complex"). In other words, 控 = com- (from "complex").
This is a word used on the Internet very recent years. It means someone who likes younger girls. There are also similar words like 御姐控，萝莉控，大叔控. These are like jargons between young people who stick to the internet.
I would interpret **控 as "a great love of/interest in someone/something". I think 妹 here refers to "young girls", as Tarlou said, and has nothing to do with "sister"... You can find many terms with 控 on the internet, like 格子控--the obsessive love of grid pattern (clothes or whatever), 短发控--the obsessive love of short hair, 大叔控--love of middle-aged man, and so on.
I should add that this 控 doesn't seem to apply to great love for/ interest in the more conventional, "healthier" pursuits, does it? Can we use 控 for people with great passion for music, art, the theatre (or the Chinese language, 汉语控 )?
Well, I think **控 is quite popular and tends to be neutral now. People can label themselves as **控 whatever they want, and it's especially popular among the young with unconventional and "odd" hobbies. It can also apply to some "healthier" or "positive" hobbies, like, I know, 卡农控--people who love the music Canon in D composed by Johann Pachelbel and like playing it with various musical instruments, and 健身控，摄影控 and many other examples. 汉语控 sounds OK to me.
Sometimes 控 can be translated as "nerd". Such as 漫画控 manga nerd, 铁路控 train nerd, 外语控 language nerd, etc. So it can be synonym of ~迷。 Although it comes form the Japanese katakana meaning "complex", in Chinese 控 is rarely used with this meaning. At first I thought 妹控 meant "obsessive love/fetish for young girls" with a similar meaning of 萝莉控。 Usually "complex" in the psychological meaning is called 情结。 I prefer 恋妹情结。
