Cheng ren zhi mei (成人之美) To help others achieve what is good for them. From the Analects: “The gentleman helps others achieve what is good in them, and not what is bad. The petty man does the opposite.”
Peng chang (捧场) To hold up the stage. Originally, to go to the theater to cheer for a performer. Today, to show up and support someone’s event.
Tai jiaozi (抬轿子) To carry someone’s sedan chair. To flatter someone. Also, to help a newcomer rise.
In early 2021, a meme format called “high EQ versus low EQ” (高情商 VS 低情商) was popular on the Chinese internet. Each meme takes a blunt remark that is unpleasant to hear and rewrites it in words that make the listener feel good.
In January 2021, the tech site ifanr wrote that everyone knows the “high EQ” versions are not really high EQ. It said the format could be called “an advanced version of sarcasm” (阴阳怪气的进阶版本).
On September 7, 1937, Mao Zedong wrote a short text called Combat Liberalism (反对自由主义). It lists the kinds of liberal behavior inside the Party. The second is “irresponsible criticism behind people’s backs, instead of making suggestions to the organization.”
“Saying nothing to people’s faces, but talking wildly behind their backs. Saying nothing at the meeting, but talking wildly after it.” (当面不说，背后乱说；开会不说，会后乱说。)
In a story from the Strategies of the Warring States, Zou Ji asks his wife, his concubine and a guest whether he is more handsome than Lord Xu of the northern city. All say yes. When he sees Lord Xu, he knows they were wrong. His wife favored him, his concubine feared him, and the guest wanted something from him.
Zou Ji then tells King Wei of Qi that the king, surrounded by palace women, ministers and common people, is deceived far more than he is. He urges the king to open the way for criticism. The story is collected in the anthology Guwen Guanzhi as “Zou Ji Admonishes the King of Qi Indirectly to Accept Advice.”
软钉子 A soft nail. A refusal or criticism made in a gentle, roundabout way.
旁敲侧击 To knock at the side and strike from the flank. To make a point indirectly, without stating it.
指桑骂槐 To point at the mulberry and curse the locust tree. To seem to blame one person while really blaming another.
再说 Let’s talk about it later. Literally “speak again.” Used to put a decision off.
从长计议 To plan for the long term. Not to decide now.
好说 Easy to discuss. A modest, polite phrase. It can also mean “that can be arranged.”
推三阻四 To push three and block four. To give one excuse after another.
敷衍 To deal with something only on the surface.
Every year on March 15, World Consumer Rights Day, China’s state television normally broadcasts an evening gala that exposes companies for violating consumer rights. The first was broadcast on CCTV on the evening of March 15, 1991. In 2020, the pandemic pushed it back to July.
In 2014, the gala exposed a Hangzhou trading company for selling expired imported food ingredients, and debris problems in the shutter of Nikon’s D600 camera.