Tit
le: I've Had Enough: Let's Talk About "以日了狗了" As someone who's been living in China for six years, I've heard and seen my fair share of slang, insults and profanity thrown around. Some of them are similar to what we have in the west, some of them unique to China, and some of them... I'm not even sure what they mean. But there's one phrase that I've heard increasingly often in recent years, and it's one that I find particularly disturbing: "以日了狗了", or "yiri le gou le" in Mandarin. The direct translation would be "f***ed the dog to death", but that doesn't quite capture the full meaning of the phrase. It's often used to describe someone who's messed up big time, failed miserably, or made a huge mistake that cost them dearly. For example, if your friend lost all his money in a bad investment, you might say "ta yiri le gou le" to express your disbelief and disappointment. On the surface, it might seem harmless enough. After all, it's just a slang phrase, and people don't really mean it literally, right? Wrong. The problem with "yiri le gou le" is that it's not just a meaningless set of words. It carries with it a deep and ugly history that many people in China are unaware of. The origins of the phrase can be traced back to the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), when the Manchus were in power and the Han Chinese were viewed as second-class citizens. To humiliate and subjugate the Han, the Manchus would make them perform "dog slaughter rituals" during which they would kill and skin dogs in public. The Han were forced to eat the dog meat, which was considered an utter disgrace. Over time, "killing dogs" became a metaphor for humiliating or degrading someone, and the phrase "yiri le gou le" emerged as a way to describe a particularly egregious form of debasement. It's a phrase that carries with it the weight of centuries of prejudice and oppression, and to use it casually is to perpetuate and normalize that prejudice. But the problem doesn't end there. In recent years, "yiri le gou le" has taken on a new life online, where it's often used to attack and harass people who have expressed opinions that the users disagree with. It's a form of cyberbullying that's as vicious as it is mindless, and it can have serious real-world consequences. I don't claim to have all the answers to this problem. Language is a complex and fluid thing, and it's not easy to change entrenched patterns of speech and thought. But I do know that we need to start talking about "yiri le gou le" and what it represents. We need to acknowledge the harm that it's causing, and we need to start pushing back against it. So the next time you hear someone say "yiri le gou le", don't stay silent. Speak up and tell them what it really means. And if you're the one who's tempted to use it, think twice. Is it really worth perpetuating a history of prejudice and oppression for the sake of a few cheap laughs?