A Very Difficult Decision

2010catchphraseclassic

Published August 4, 2026

A Very Difficult Decision (一个非常艰难的决定) is a Chinese catchphrase from November 2010 that mocked a pop-up message Tencent QQ sent to hundreds of millions of users during its bitter feud with security software maker Qihoo 360. Netizens turned the corporate wording into a running joke used to introduce trivial or absurd decisions online.

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Overview

A Very Difficult Decision, written in Chinese as 一个非常艰难的决定 and romanized as Yī Gè Fēi Cháng Jiān Nán de Jué Dìng, is a catchphrase Chinese netizens coined in early November 20103. It pulls its exact wording from a system pop-up Tencent QQ pushed to its huge user base at the peak of the company's public brawl with security vendor Qihoo 3602.

The joke works because the original notice used unusually solemn corporate language to announce that QQ would stop running on any machine that had 360's software installed, forcing users to pick a side3. Netizens ripped the phrase out of context and started prefacing everyday micro-choices with the same grave tone, applying it to things like which snack to buy or which TV channel to watch1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Tencent QQ pop-up / Chinese forums (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2010

The catchphrase was born from the so-called 3Q War between Tencent QQ, then the dominant Chinese instant messenger, and 360 Safeguard, a popular anti-virus and system optimization tool from Qihoo2. On November 3, 2010, Tencent sent an open letter to users through the QQ client announcing that it had made "a very difficult decision" to shut down QQ on any computer where 360's products were also running3.

The timing amplified the reach of the wording. QQ.com already ranked among the top ten most visited sites worldwide at the time, so the pop-up landed on hundreds of millions of desktops at once and was screenshotted almost immediately for mockery on Chinese social platforms2.

How It Spread

Within hours of the November 3 pop-up, threads dissecting the phrase were racking up thousands of replies on MOP, including one epic discussion that passed 6,800 posts1. A parallel debate on the Tianya "End of the World" forum crossed 340 replies the same day, and NetEase ran a public poll asking readers which product they would uninstall first4.

The parody quickly jumped off the Chinese web. Because QQ was itself the medium under attack, users regrouped on Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger, and the catchphrase spread heavily on Twitter, which RenRen bloggers described as the main hub for the joke's popularization2. Follow-up threads kept appearing on MOP through November 4, 2010, keeping the phrase in circulation as the corporate fight escalated5.

The format hardened into a template for mock-serious announcements. A widely shared Youku video titled 《我们做了一个非常艰难的决定》诗文朗诵会 staged the pop-up's text as a formal poetry recitation, cementing the phrase as a stock way to lampoon overwrought corporate communication6.

How to Use This Meme

The catchphrase is typically used as an opening line before announcing a trivial or obviously easy choice, mimicking the stiff corporate register of the original QQ notice. A common convention is to pair 一个非常艰难的决定 with a mundane subject, such as which drink to order or which app to close, so the mismatch between the grave phrasing and the small stakes carries the joke3.

Frequently Asked Questions