Meanings
alternative 996
- uncountableA schedule with 9am to 9pm workdays and a six-day workweek (usually from Monday to Saturday).
The Gen Z generation is bringing “good trouble” — a term coined by civil rights activist and politician John Lewis for nonviolent protests against unjust situations — to the “9-9-6 work culture.”
2025 August 4, Bryan Robinson, “The ‘9-9-6 Work Schedule’ Could Be Coming To Your Workplace Soon”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 07 Aug 20251 more example
Some have called for an American DeepSeek project, published industrial manifestoes full of references to China and even adopted China Tech’s grueling “996” work culture, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week.
2025 October 22, Li Yuan, “Silicon Valley Has China Envy, and That Reveals a Lot About America”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
Origin
- Chinese九九六“996”
- English9-9-6
Borrowed from Chinese 九九六 (jiǔjiǔliù, “996”).
More words from Chinese
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
9-9-6. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/9-9-6
“9-9-6.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/9-9-6. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “9-9-6,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/9-9-6.
Source: 9-9-6 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.