China's latest crackdown: 'The arbitrary use of English words'
She can look all she wants, but from now on, words such as "ungelivable" won't make it into the Chinese press.First they banned the use of English acronyms on Chinese TV -- we still pity the anchor who has to say "Zhongguo nanzi lanqiu sai" (中国男子篮球联赛) instead of CBA (China Basketball Association).
Now the government has taken things a step further, announcing a prohibition on the “arbitrary use of English words and acronyms … that are not intelligible to everyone,” according to a People’s Daily report.
The ban, issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), applies only to Chinese language publications.
Although at first glance the restriction might seem to limit Chinglish -- the mixing of Chinese and English words -- the actual target of the new regulations are hybrid words such as “ungelivable,” which have increasingly appeared in the Chinese press.
“Ungelivable,” originally meaning “give power," is now used by publications and Chinese netizens to express the feeling of an unsatisfactory or unfavorable outcome. It describes the gap between reality and the ideal.
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The term comes from the Chinese buzzword “geili” and the English word “unbelieveable.” It’s this type of language development that GAPP is trying to address. (For those who are wondering, the noun form is "gelivability.")
According to “People’s Daily,” GAPP has issued the recent order to limit the damage terms such as “ungelivable” have done to “the purity of the Chinese language,” resulting in “adverse social impacts to the harmonious and healthy cultural environment.”
The new restrictions will be added to the daily censorship checks Chinese publications submit to.
