街頭俚語

BLING,BLING,RENXING

街頭俚語

STREET TALK

BLING,BLING,RENXING

“I just lick the lid of the container but throw away the rest when having yogurt. Don’t ask me why, I am rich and willful (我喝酸奶只舔蓋兒，別問我為什么，有錢就是任性！Wǒ hē suānnǎi zhǐ tiǎn gàir, bié wèn wǒ wèi shénme, yǒuqián jiùshì rènxìng!)” For those paying attention, such eccentric declarations seem to have exploded on social media. At fi rst glance, it seems a bit daft, but chances are the attention-hungry poster is just making fun of the buzzwords, “有錢，任性” (yǒuqián, rènxìng). It’s somewhat similar to saying, “I am rich, so I can do as I please.”Renxing conjures up a strong-willed, unrestrained, do-as-I-please attitude, perhaps bordering on capriciousness; neither had much to do with the other until a strange event in 2014 when a man surnamed Liu spent 1,760 RMB on a health supplement. Later, a stranger called to persuade him to buy more and Liu agreed. Over the next four months, Liu was swindled out of 540,000 RMB by a gang of unscrupulous conmen, always recommending more useless (but somehow vital) products. The police eventually caught the culprits, but Liu claimed that he knew he was being swindled at the 70,000 RMB mark: “I just wanted to see how much they could take from me!” The online world thus proclaimed,“Rich people can always follow their own way (有錢就是任性 yǒuqián jiùshì rènxìng).”

The phrase has since fallen into self satire and, as is the internet’s wont, it evolved at a startling speed. Of course, wealth is not the only source of such privilege; a pretty face can open just as many doors, giving rise to the phrase, “Good-looking people are self-willed (長得好看就是任性 Zhǎng de hǎokàn jiùshì rènxìng).” Education is also a pretty good leg up, with top-performing graduates garnering a wealth of options, hence the sour statement from the struggling masses: “Top students are so willful (學霸就是任性 xuébà jiùshì rènxìng).”

But, when it comes to true willfulness, nothing guarantees it like power, and there’s no better place to fi nd its reins than in politics. When asked about the anti-corruption movement during this year’s CPPCC meeting, to show determination, spokesperson Lü Xinhua replied: “The Party, the government, and the people have the same attitude toward the corruption problem, to use a popular online slang term, we are all very willful (大家都很任性 dàjiā dōu hěn rènxìng).” Bear in mind that it is the same spokesperson who brought us the wonderful phrase “你懂的 (nǐ dǒngde)”, or “I think you understand what I mean,”when answering questions about the possible investigation of a member of the Party’s highest decision-making authority. This time his poor interpreter paused at the word renxing to ask for more clari fi cation. She ultimately translated it to “capricious”. The incident was discussed heatedly, and, three days later, Premier Li Keqiang emphasized in a work report that “power should not lead to capriciousness (有權不可任性 yǒu quán bù kě rènxìng)”.

Though this phrase is clearly not to the government’s liking, at least as it pertains to the anti-corruption campaign, it may be time to take stock of your“capricious” inventory. Who knows, you might fi nd something useful. — BY SUN JIAHUI (孫佳慧)