People's Daily article celebrates Chinglish
Chinglish has become a symbol of national pride now that more foreigners have adopted Chinese expressions, the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily announced last week in an article headed "Chinglish sweeps the world".
The article celebrated English-speaking foreigners who use Chinese words like guanxi (connections), translated Chinese phrases such as "no money, no talk", and fusion words that include elements from both tongues, such as "geilivable", meaning "awesome".
"The more advanced and civilised a society becomes, the more attractive its language is to other language groups," said Beijing Foreign Studies University professor Meng Dehong, noting China's climb to superpower status.
The article also quoted foreign students who had learned Chinese phrases from their classmates. "The saying, 'good good study, day day up' is now my personal motto!" said William, a university student from Canada.
But Stephen Matthews, a linguist at the University of Hong Kong, thinks People's Daily may be exaggerating. "Most of the 'Chinglish' they cited as examples are not well known outside China. Those words are popular only in certain communities of young internet users."
Kecheng, 22, a university student from Beijing, said many locals and some expatriates in the capital were familiar with the lesser known Chinglish phrases in the article.