系统 → Xì Tǒng → Systematic (system, operating system)

In case you ask, this isn’t part of my impromptu ‘internet scene in China’ thing, but it’s still interesting nevertheless.

系统 generally meant something that’s systematic, or something that’s been “boiled down to science”, and the 老师 (teacher) said that it is one of the reasons people go to a language school instead of just hanging around in Beijing, since learning in these places is systematic, and uses a more refined method to teach Mandarin as a language to foreigners.

With that said, what’s particularly funny about it is how the teacher references the meaning for ‘operating systems’. She referenced Windows XP, but instead of saying XP, she stated that the Chinese would rather instead ‘叉P’ (cross-P). I can’t help but think they should’ve branded Vista with a 叉 instead.