#048: Our favourite phrases of 2021
Year in Review
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It’s at times like this when you need a good Chinese poem to set the scene:
挥手自兹去，萧萧班马鸣 huīshǒu zì zī qù, xiāoxiāo bān mǎ míng.
Upon waving goodbye, each of us goes our way,
A horse separated from the pack neighs in sympathy.
Background: it’s the last two lines of a poem by Lǐ Bái 李白, called Bidding Farewell to a Friend, 送友人 sòng yǒurén. You can drop it into conversations when saying good bye to somebody, moving on from a phase in your life, or bidding farewell to a year that’s just finished.
As I waved goodbye to 2021, I looked back through the archive of 1331 words, phrases, idioms, colloquialisms and slang shared in this newsletter, collecting my favourites from the year to share with you.
I’ve got it down to 21 words covering:
Business
Society
Social media
Politics
In the recommendations at the end, there’s even more words from 2021.
CHINA IN 2021 IN 21 WORDS
1. BUSINESS
杀熟 shāshú - ‘killing customers’ - over-charging existing customers
这又牵涉到外卖平台对用户大数据“杀熟”的问题 - This involves [the practice of] delivery platforms using their data sets to charge existing customers higher prices.
Context: In July this year, Didi was placed under investigation by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) for violating laws and regulations relating to the usage of customer data - such as using it to charge existing customers higher prices.
Related: 偷脸 tōuliǎn - ‘stealing faces’ is another way companies have been accused of abusing customer data in China this year.
罗生门 luōshēngmén - Rashomon affair; a deepening plot where each character has their own version of the truth
国内的“造车新势力”蔚来和汽车零部件供应商伟巴斯特也先后卷入其中，并上演了“罗生门” - China’s new force in the domestic EV market, Nio, and its supplier, Webasto, have been drawn into this issue - it’s becoming a Rashomon story [where all sides have their own version of the truth].
Context: In April, Tesla was in the news following a customer rights activist wearing T-shirts saying “malfunctioning brakes” 刹车失灵 shāchē shīlíng) protesting on top of a Tesla at the Shanghai Auto Show. Tesla’s response created a PR disaster. The mess was described as a ‘Rashomon Affair’ in the Chinese media - meaning a story with twists and turns and lots of different versions of the truth.
Backstory: Rashomon is a cult Japanese film from the 1950’s. Its plot revolves around different characters giving subjective, alternative, self-serving, and contradictory versions of events.
Related: 特黑 tèhēi - a Tesla hater
屁滚尿流 pìgǔn niàoliú - ‘rolling farts and flowing piss’ - sh*t storm; market chaos
现在如屁滚尿流般在股市里嗷嗷砸盘 - In the stock market sh*t storm there was absolute chaos as it crashed.
Context: following the announcement of the ‘double reduction policy’ (双减政策 shuāngjiǎn zhèngcè) in July, the education sector fell into chaos. One company hit hard was education business, New Oriental 新东方 xīndōngfāng. This idiom was used to describe the free-fall of its Hong Kong listed stocks in aftermath of the policy announcement.
跑马圈地 pǎomǎ quāndì - ‘running horse, encircling land’; claiming markets through preemptive investments
三方面食品牌的竞争只会让新老玩家加速跑马圈地 - The competition between the three main noodles brands will only lead to more aggressive investments by old and new players.
Context: Charles Lu (陆正耀 - Lù Zhèngyào), the founder of Luckin coffee, and still $320 million in debt after he was accused of financial fraud, made a comeback with a new noodles chain Quxiao Noodles (趣小面 - Qù xiǎo miàn) in Beijing in August. His is a classic story of entrepreneurial relentlessness and balls as he goes from one big thing to the next - making aggressive moves into new markets.
Related: 风口 fēngkǒu - the next big thing
刮骨疗毒 guāgǔ liáodú - ‘scraping poison from the bone’; a drastic solution is required
患上大公司病的阿里或许到了不得不停下、“刮骨疗毒”的时候 - Ali has a ‘big company disease’, perhaps it is time for the business to pause and take drastic action.
Context: Also in August, a female employee at Alibaba alleged she was forced to drink at a business dinner, groped by a client and sexually assaulted by her boss. A protest in a company canteen and a viral essay pressured Ali into eventually taking action. According to media reports, Ali was sick and in need of a drastic solution. But based on the eventual outcome of the allegations, it would appear that much more bone scraping is needed at Ali.
Backstory: Idiom from the Three Kingdoms period. The General, Guān Yǔ 关羽, on being hit by a poisonous arrow needed a ‘magic doctor’ to remove the poison by cutting through his flesh to scrape it from his bone. Ouch!
吃人血馒头 chī rén xiě mántou - ‘eating human-blood-soaked steamed bun’ - taking advantage of other people’s suffering
河南暴雨，康桥地产竟然吃“人血馒头”。借此打广告，被不少人谴责 - With the torrential rain in Henan, Kangqiao Real Estate shockingly took advantage of people’s suffering, leveraging the disaster as an advertising opportunity - which was condemned by many.
Context: In June, the company Kangqiao Real Estate, took advantage of people’s suffering, leveraging the catastrophic floods in Henan as an advertising opportunity.
Backstory: Eating steamed buns soaked in human-blood was apparently a thing, used in traditional Chinese medicine. The phrase has evolved to mean taking advantage of others’ misfortune. More on that here in this 1 min video.
2. SOCIETY
饭圈 fànquān - fan groups, or ‘chaotic fan groups’
牛奶事件再一次把‘饭圈’问题拉到了广大群众的视野里 - The milk issue has again brought the problems of chaotic fan groups to the attention of the general public.
Context: In May, video-streaming platform iQIYI (爱奇艺) pulled the season finale of one of its flagship reality TV shows - Youth With You 3 (青春有你3) - because one of its marketing campaigns went too far. Fans gained extra votes to support their favourite stars by scanning QR codes on milk bottle caps of the show sponsor, Mengniu. The QR codes were on the inside of the cap so to cash in, fans had to buy boxes of milk to get the codes, tipping gallons of milk away in the process.
Related: 私生饭 sīshēngfàn - crazy fans, obsessive fans; originally a Korean word ‘sasaeng fan’