Gaming proposals made by NPC delegate are a waste of time

He's had "too much to eat and has not got enough to do"

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Beyond the headlines of economic growth targets and stability, some proposals made by NPC delegates on the fringes of the Two Sessions (两会 liǎnghuì) are hotly debated on social media.

This year one proposal made by a young delegate from Sichuan, Lǐ Jūn 李君, put him at the top of the search rankings on Weibo.

Li has had enough of gaming and celebrities (Sohu in Chinese):

针对“网游广告充斥乱象”表示，广告投放平台应该承担起社会责任，禁止投放低俗色情网络游戏广告，而明星应该禁止代言游戏广告 - In relation to online games being flooded with inappropriate adverts, advertising platforms must take their social responsibility and put a stop to vulgar online gaming ads. And celebrities should stop endorsing computer games.

You can view his one-minute rant on Weibo.

There’s a mix of netizen opinions agreeing with and against Li’s proposal. Some netizens believe he’s got a point; others reckon he’s wrong and the focus should be on the gaming companies themselves (Sohu in Chinese):

我觉得与其不让明星代言，不如先管一管游戏公司的乱象问题 - I believe rather than not allowing celebrities to endorse games, it would be much better to first manage the chaotic practices of gaming companies themselves.

So this week we dig into the language used to debate whether this policy solution has legs or not, and different ways to say ‘disappointing delegates’ in Chinese.

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1. The Favourite five

Did you know that food, especially eating too much of it, in Chinese can be a metaphor for being lazy, having too much time on your hands and not enough to do?

Three of my favourite five words this week are related to food.

饭桶 fàn tǒng

- rice bucket, someone who is lazy and has too much time on their hands

这帮饭桶就是不做些实际工作的 - This bunch of lazy delegates do nothing that’s actually of value.

吃饱了撑的 chī bǎole chēng de

- have eaten/eating too much and be very full; too much to eat and not enough to do, lazy

真搞不懂干嘛不去管管卖淫嫖娼，网红线下卖淫，管游戏干嘛吃饱了撑的 - I really don’t understand why they don’t focus regulations on internet celebrities involved in prostitution. Meddling with gaming, do they have too much time on their hands?

动了某人的蛋糕 dòngle mǒu rén de dàngāo

- hit somebody’s cake, affected the vested interests of others

这个提案今年应该是不会得到讨论和通过的，因为它动了一些大的集团的利益蛋糕了 - This proposal is unlikely to be passed this year, because it would impact on the vested interests of some powerful groups.

渣渣辉 zhā zhā huī - Zhang Jiahui (张家辉)

大家好，吾系渣渣辉 - Hello, I am Zhang Jiahui [meaning: gaming adverts endorsed by celebrities are really bad]

• Note: Internet slang word which relates to an advert by Hong Kong actor, Zhang Jiahui, in 2017 for a computer game, Legend of the Moon (贪玩蓝月 tān wán lán yuè) . His heavy Cantonese accent means that when he introduced himself it sounded like zhā zhā huī. It’s become an internet meme for bad adverts for online gaming in China.

• Watch this link and make yourself feel better that pronunciation in Chinese is also really hard for Chinese people!

管天管地 guǎn tiān guǎn dì

- managing the sky, managing the earth; talk a lot but do nothing to help people’s lives

这帮饭桶就是成天管天管地不做些实际的 - This bunch of lazy delegates spend their time talking about big policies but they deliver nothing that actually improves the lives of the people.

• Note: from the phrase, 管天管地，管不着拉屎放屁 guǎn tiān guǎn dì, guǎn bùzháo lā shǐ fàngpì - ‘managing the sky, managing the earth, but they can’t managing sh**ting and farting’. This is a common phrase but use carefully, it’s quite a vulgar one and would cause offence in the wrong setting. It’s probably best to stick to the shorter, cleaner version.

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2. Consuming the Conversation

The basics

Within the media reporting of Li’s proposal and in the social media chatter there are lots of words and phrases we have covered before in this newsletter.

Here are some of the best ones which readers of Slow Chinese should know:

• YXH - short for 营销号 yíngxiāo hào - a marketing account on social media

• 博眼球 bó yǎn qiú - attracting eyeballs, grabbing attention

• 带节奏 dài jié zòu - misleading public opinion

• 擦边球 cā biān qiú - loophole

Now, onto the new stuff….

Useful words

• 撮 cuō - pinch, poke

  撮到痛处了，看来这建议有用啊 - He’s clearly annoyed lots of people so it seems this is a good suggestion!

• 喷 pēn - spray, vent on social media

  感觉这提议挺好的...不懂为什么喷... - This feels like a good proposal. I don’t understand why so many people are venting on social media.

• 砍你 kǎnnǐ - ‘cut you’, want to get rid of someone

  是不是渣渣辉的小号？是我就砍你了 - Is this the marketing channel for Zhang Jiahui? Get rid of him.

  • Related: Internet slang originally from the advert for Legend of the Moon (贪玩蓝月) with Zhang Jiahui.

• 低俗 dīsú - vulgar

  特别是小网页的那种广告，很多都低俗不堪 - Especially those smaller websites, there are so many that have really vulgar ads.

  • Related: 低下 dīxià - low, lowly

• 沉迷 chén mí - become addicted

  青少年容易沉迷游戏 - Kids can easily become addicted to computer games.

• 自拔 zì bá - extract yourself from

  一旦你在里面投入了金钱，想放弃就觉得可惜，投入越大越不能自拔 - As soon as you’ve put your own money in there it’s much harder to stop yourself. The bigger the investment the harder it is to extract yourself.

  • Note: used almost always in a negative context alongside 无法 or 不能

Three-character words

• 拍脑壳 pāi nǎoké - tapping your skull, think of something off the top of your head

  这代表明显没深入研究就拍脑壳提议了 - This delegate has clearly not done his homework. He’s just made this recommendation up off the top of his head.

  • Related: 拍脑袋 pāi nǎodai

• 混粉圈 hùn fěn quān - getting stuck in with fan groups

  人大代表也混粉圈吗 提这些个没用的 - NPC delegates are also trying to appeal to their fans? These proposls are useless.

• 追星族 zhuīxīng zú - fan groups of certain celebrities

  追星族最多尝试一下，但是因为兴趣不同一般不会沉迷游戏 - Fans of these celebrities may try the games they promote. But it’s quite different from the interest in the celebrity and so it’s unlikely to become addicted.

• 乌托邦 wūtuōbāng - Utopia

  都乌托邦式虚幻美好......我跟戴表都生活在平行纬度 - Utopian idealism sounds nice but is unrealistic…. We do live in a parallel universe to these delegates.

  • 戴表 dài biǎo - ‘wearing watch’, a derogatory term for NPC delegates (it sounds the same as the word for delegate - 代表), which first appeared in 2011 back when lots of them wore expensive watches and belts.

Phrases

• 闲的蛋疼 xián de dàn téng - a lazy egg hurts; boring

  这帮饭桶就是闲的蛋疼了 - These idiots have too much time on their hands, they are so boring!

  • Note: this is also a vulgar phrase but it’s a common one on social media

  • Related: 蛋疼 dàn téng - boring, speechless (usually to criticise men). Egg is also a colloquial word meaning ‘balls’ in Chinese.

• 有毛关系 yǒu máo guānxì - have a hair relationship, have no link whatsoever

  明星代不代言游戏与我玩不玩个游戏有个毛关系 - Celebrities endorsing computer games has nothing to do with whether I want to play it or not.

  • Also: 没有半毛关系 méiyǒu bàn máo guānxì

• 有的没的 yǒu de méi de - ‘have not have’ - pointless stuff

  每天就爱管这些有的没的，能不能为百姓造点福 - They love to mess with things like this, but can’t they do something to benefit the people?

Idioms

• 遍地开花 biàndì kāihuā - flowers everywhere, be everywhere

  是明星不代言他们就会用ps技术搞遍地开花，到时候明星维权成本大于维权的收益 - If celebrities don’t endorse brands, they’ll have their names photoshopped onto ads anyway. And the cost of trying to protect their rights is more costly than the benefit it can bring.

• 各抒己见 gèshū jǐjiàn - each have their own opinions

  对于此事，网友们议论纷纷，并且各抒己见 - The issue has been hotly debated on social media with lots of different opinions being expressed.

• 晚节不保 wǎnjié bùbǎo - the integrity of one’s later years is not protected; in this context it means celebrities get desperate in the latter part of their careers

  就连成龙、李连杰这样的老大哥也“晚节不保”，亲自下场做示范 - Even the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li are worried about being at the end of their careers, so they are willing to go into doing advertisements themselves.

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