“Wake Up, Sleeping People of the Netherlands!”
October 16, 2022 5:13 AM Subscribe
Chinese nicknames for NBA players are similarly inventive.
posted by chrchr at 7:46 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 7:46 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I like this. I also see it in the way some of my friends write on Facebook, to get around the auto-bans if you criticize white people (yt ppl) and the like.
posted by joannemerriam at 10:28 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by joannemerriam at 10:28 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'd say Chinese censors have their work cut out for them. The written language has almost endless possibilities for swapping out one character for another with the same pronunciation. Indeed, you could write a whole novel with entirely incorrect characters which would, when read aloud, have the correct pronunciation. And for the inevitable person who responds that written Chinese is the ultimate form of writing and that Chinese culture would collapse without it, your horse wears army boots.
posted by jabah at 11:04 AM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by jabah at 11:04 AM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Indeed, you could write a whole novel with entirely incorrect characters which would, when read aloud, have the correct pronunciation.
I adore and am fascinated by this idea. It's similar to the Victor Borge (and other of his generation) monologues where they replace all the words with puns and spoonerisms and you can make sense of it as you go along. Only in this case, the spoken aloud would be correct, while the text would be nonsense.
This is very different from much language play that is possible in English or German, the only two languages I know.
It's fascinating, and I wish I had a better context for all of it because it seems like it would be really fun. An enterprising Chinese version of Will Shortz would be creating some kind of crossword or other puzzle game out of this.
posted by hippybear at 11:12 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I adore and am fascinated by this idea. It's similar to the Victor Borge (and other of his generation) monologues where they replace all the words with puns and spoonerisms and you can make sense of it as you go along. Only in this case, the spoken aloud would be correct, while the text would be nonsense.
This is very different from much language play that is possible in English or German, the only two languages I know.
It's fascinating, and I wish I had a better context for all of it because it seems like it would be really fun. An enterprising Chinese version of Will Shortz would be creating some kind of crossword or other puzzle game out of this.
posted by hippybear at 11:12 AM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Chinese tones give so more much space for punning than in English ..... Chinese dads must be insufferable
posted by mbo at 12:47 PM on October 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by mbo at 12:47 PM on October 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
The Lion Eating Poet is a famous Mandarin poem written with 94 characters all of which make the "shi" sound (是 shì is the verb to be)
In pin yin it's:
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »
Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.
posted by mbo at 12:56 PM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
In pin yin it's:
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »
Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.
posted by mbo at 12:56 PM on October 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
As a Chinese netizen, I can confirm that people do write this way, and not just about politically sensitive matters. Celebrities' names are often not written in full - we use nicknames, quite inventive in some cases. For example, each active kpop group is denoted by one Chinese character, which may have no surface-level connection to the group's actual name. It's impossible to know which groups people are talking about if you're not familiar with Chinese kpop fandoms.
The #1 hurdle Chinese netizens face is not the censors or algorithms scouring the platforms - those exist and are often ridiculously restrictive, but they can be bypassed easily with ~our ways~. The bigger issue is that a large (and sadly ever-increasing) portion of the netizens are happy to report contents as inappropriate, whether for political reasons, financial stakes, or petty fandom grudges. We know what each other are talking about, puns and all.
posted by fatehunter at 2:15 PM on October 16, 2022 [21 favorites]
The #1 hurdle Chinese netizens face is not the censors or algorithms scouring the platforms - those exist and are often ridiculously restrictive, but they can be bypassed easily with ~our ways~. The bigger issue is that a large (and sadly ever-increasing) portion of the netizens are happy to report contents as inappropriate, whether for political reasons, financial stakes, or petty fandom grudges. We know what each other are talking about, puns and all.
posted by fatehunter at 2:15 PM on October 16, 2022 [21 favorites]
This is interesting and awesome and I have no doubt that American tech companies will gladly take Chinese contracts to build AI systems to stamp this out too.
posted by JHarris at 2:53 PM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 2:53 PM on October 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
« Shī Shì shí shī shǐ »
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
posted by JHarris at 2:55 PM on October 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
posted by JHarris at 2:55 PM on October 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Reminds me of Mots D'Heures: Gousses, Rames. You have to read the "French" title out loud to hear it as "Mother Goose Rhymes" with a very strong accent. The book has the various stories in the same fake homonphonic French, such as "Humpty Dumpty":
Un petit d'un petitposted by autopilot at 2:40 AM on October 17, 2022 [5 favorites]
S'étonne aux Halles
Un petit d'un petit
Ah! degrés te fallent
Indolent qui ne sort cesse
Indolent qui ne se mène
Qu'importe un petit d'un petit
Tout Gai de Reguennes.
Weird to see the same thing happening on western TikTok but only for sexual terms-- with references to "spicy accountants" and "corn" . Different culture, different taboos.
posted by Dag Maggot at 8:04 AM on October 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Dag Maggot at 8:04 AM on October 17, 2022 [2 favorites]
I thought “corn” as an adjective was a US midwestern slang word translating roughly as “hot enough to inspire coprophilia”.
posted by acb at 8:31 AM on October 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 8:31 AM on October 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
« Older Europe Is Likely to Avoid Unusually Cold Winter... | “You really become that character when you are in... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by hippybear at 5:41 AM on October 16, 2022 [3 favorites]