A few days ago, it was rumored on the Internet that the official propaganda slogan on a lamppost in a certain place in China was suspected to use “ugly edge” instead of the simplified Chinese character “陋习”. Some people think it may be to avoid “Xi Jinping” to avoid falling into literal prison, while others think it is a “senior black” of the bottom officials.
The photo circulated online, the background is a roadside building, the first floor of which has a car repair store, the official slogan on the lamp post in front of the store is “improve the level of civilization and hygiene to eliminate bad habits”. Netizens believe that the word “ugly edge” appears, apparently as a result of replacing the simplified word “Xi” with the word “edge”.
It is unclear where the photo was taken, but judging from the slogan and the simplified characters on the sign of the car repair store, it should be from a town in mainland China.
The words “Get rid of the ugly edge” appear in an official slogan in a mainland Chinese town. (Internet photo)
Another netizen shared a screenshot saying that a search for either the formal or simplified Chinese word “陋习” on the mainland microblogging site did not show any results.
The mainland microblog search blocks “bad habits” in both formal and simplified Chinese characters. (Web screenshot)
Some Twitter users believe this is an apparent attempt to avoid using derogatory terms made up of Xi’s last name, so as not to get caught in literal jail. Others speculated that it could also be a “high level hack” by lower-level officials, suggesting that Xi Jinping is “an emperor”.
In ancient China, when it comes to the name of The Emperor of the current dynasty, usually have to avoid. Some netizens teased that if the ancient word shape is modified for avoidance, it is usually written with one less stroke, so “ugly habit” should be written as “ugly diao”.
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