We know the ship sailed on this one before the weekend, but here’s a second look at CPPCC official Yan Linkun’s epic meltdown at Kunming Changshu International Airport. This video carries sound and is brought to us via the always interesting blog Language Log. This is the discussion they had with the above as a prompt:
It’s hard to hear everything Yan Linkun is saying, but it seems like part of it goes thus:
Wǒ běnlái dǎ de shì tóuděng cāng de. . . Shénme yìsi a! Shénme yìsi, a? ! Wǒ běnlái shì tóuděng cāng de. . . . Tài qīfù rénle. . . Dōu jǐ cìle? ! Tài qīfù rénle. Āi, gǎnjǐn gěi wǒ kāimén nǎ! . . . Āi, nǎ yǒu zhèyàng de, tài qīfù rénle! . . . Tóuděng cāng. . .
我本来打得是头等舱的。。。什么意思啊！什么意思，啊？！我本来是头等舱的。 。。。 太欺负人了。。。都几次了？！太欺负人了。哎，赶紧给我开门哪！。。。哎，哪有这样的，太欺负人了！。。。头等舱。。。
“I originally booked a first class [ticket]…. What do you mean, huh?! What do you mean, huh?! I originally booked a first class [ticket]…. You’re really bullying me…. And not just once?! You’re really taking advantage of me. Hai! Hurry up and open the door!… Hai, how can you be like this? Really browbeating me!… First class….”I have translated qīfù 欺负 (“dupe; hoodwink; cheat; deceive; bully; take advantage of”) in several different ways to try to bring across the various nuances of the word.
I prefer “hoodwink” because it’s funny to picture an angry ogre such as Yan Linkun dropping that word as his fury slowly but surely hijacks his mind, body, and soul. HULK SMASH KILL HOODWINK RAWRRRR.
By the way, Youku has censored all search results for “Yan Linkun” in Chinese.
Rage in Kunming (Language Log, UPenn)
Nice call on that Language Log blog. It’s new to me and I’m lovin’ it.
“There will be consequences for his actions”
“Youku – to protect and subserve… douches with guanxi”