肿么 is an internet slang term formed by homophonic substitution, where the character 肿 (zhǒng), meaning "swollen", replaces 怎 (zěn) in the standard word 怎么 (zěnme), meaning "how". This relies on the similar pronunciation between 肿 and 怎 in certain dialects or casual speech, creating a playful variant that retains the original meaning while incorporating the unrelated literal meaning of 肿 for humorous effect.