Words coined on the Internet may be popular but it is also the rape of language
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While going to school recently, my son described me as quite doubi, a term that was quite new to me. He was responding to my advice, and the sound of it suggested that it was not welcome.
I found the newfangled online buzz word rude, though I did not know its meaning. In fact, many favored online terms strike me as rude at the first instance. Take such profanities as kao (“fuck”), freely used today by young women of fashion as signs of cyber civilization or sophistication. I suspect that women are more prone to overuse such words because in less permissive times they risked being stigmatized for openly using such terms.
The rise of the Internet is redefining the meaning of culture, decency, or even literacy. A month ago, the online version of the People’s Daily published a report about vulgar language use in the Internet that deplored the easy use of some terms that should normally be seen as offensive. Some of those words have been conceived by netizens that gained a following on the Internet. Others are taken from English, including words such as “bitch” or “bigger,” or even local dialects.
There has been a predominance of such words created to express indignation, self-deprecation, or self-abasement. The seeming anonymity of the Internet rendered it an ideal platform for users to express their frustrations and disappointments experienced in real life.
Buildup of negativity
According to the report, some of the Internet vulgarisms most favored include nima (a variation of “fuck you”), diaosi (literally alluding to pubic hair, referring to men of limited means and stature), and doubi (obscenely funny).
The only defense I can think of for the use of such terms is their outright disdain for any rules governing good taste, their crudity, or even their suggestion of prurience.
The report concluded that the overuse of such vulgar and emotionally charged terms have made frank exchange of opinion difficult, and added to the buildup of negativity in terms of general social sentiment. Hence there is the need for effective cleanup, which can be coordinated at several levels.
Dictionary compilers should consider themselves gatekeepers in maintaining purity in language use. As the authority on language use, they should exercise maximum caution in including new words before they become formally acceptable.
A few years ago, about a hundred scholars published a letter condemning the inclusion of many Western acronyms in an influential Chinese dictionary. Their plea went unheeded. Progressive lexicographers today generally subscribe to the descriptive, rather than prescriptive, approach.
Cleanup needed
Newspapers too have a role in safeguarding the purity of the language. Ironically, some papers, instead of frowning on such practice, play up to the masses by sprinkling their reports with these fancy Internet terms. Such cavalier attitude is inconsistent with the sense and sensibility traditionally expected of lexicographers and journalists. It would only accelerate the corruption of the language as a whole.
Recently an article in Xinmin Evening News identified 10 Chinese words that have been debased in recent times.
These include xiaojie (Miss), which has been debased from an honorific title to a woman now of questionable reputation. Similarly, meinv (beauty) has degenerated from a woman endowed with an ethereal quality, to a generic term for any woman client. The male counterpart is shuaige.
Language is not only a means to express ourselves; it also subjects our thoughts to its control. The levity with which we consider something might lead to laxity in matters concerning social mores and manners. Women who deliberately exhibit their deep cleavage today are simply showing their shiyexian (career line), implying the ease with which buxom women can carve a career for themselves.
When gaokao (college entrance examination) results were announced about a week ago, everyone focused on the scores, but some reporters preferred to pay more attention to yanzhi of the high scorers, where yan means looks, and zhi means valuation.
As a parent, I am fully aware of the need for a linguistic cleanup, knowing how quickly our children put them into use thoughtlessly and ignorantly.
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