Chinese word for "crisis": Difference between revisions
convert some parenthetical remarks into footnotes, wikify here and there, more categories; mark some inline issues with templates |
→Popular culture: remove a link to a non-existent article |
||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
==Popular culture== |
==Popular culture== |
||
The [[nonce word]] [[Wikt:crisitunity|crisitunity]] was used in the [[Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)|"Fear of Flying" episode]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]''<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/content/node/47756 April 26th, 2006] edition of [[The A.V. Club |
The [[nonce word]] [[Wikt:crisitunity|crisitunity]] was used in the [[Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)|"Fear of Flying" episode]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]''<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/content/node/47756 April 26th, 2006] edition of [[The A.V. Club]]</ref>. Lisa says, "Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'?" Homer replies, "Yes! Cris-atunity." Although [[The Simpsons Archive]] spells this [[portmanteau]] "cris-atunity",<ref>[http://snpp.com/episodes/2F08.html 2F08 Fear of Flying], an episode summary from [[The Simpsons Archive]] fansite</ref> "crisitunity" is more commonly used. |
||
==Footnotes and references== |
==Footnotes and references== |
||
Revision as of 07:03, 12 December 2007
The Chinese word weiji (危機 translated as "crisis") is one of the few Chinese words[1] to enter the English lexicon directly as a borrowed term, or loanword. Unlike other loanwords, however, the wide acceptance of weiji can be attributed not to the actual definition of the Chinese word, but to a fanciful Western misappropriation of it.
Mark Liberman traces the history of weiji in English back to an anonymous editorial in a journal[2] for missionaries in China.[3] The use of the term gained momentum when John F. Kennedy delivered a speech in Indianapolis on April 12, 1959:
- When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters.
- One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.[4]
Kennedy employed this trope routinely in his speeches, and it was then appropriated by Richard M. Nixon and others. The usage has been adopted by business consultants and motivational speakers and has gained great popularity in Universities and in the popular press.[not specific enough to verify] For example, Condoleezza Rice recently repeated the misunderstanding in The Washington Post.[5] Al Gore also included this error in his March 21, 2007 testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee.[6]
There is an undeniable appeal to the misappropriation of weiji.[original research?] It is dramatic in its compression; in two syllables it offers inherent proof of the opportunity hidden within every crisis. This presumed oriental wisdom is used to communicate the inspirational notion that a crisis should be a time of optimism by erroneously deconstructing weiji (crisis) as wei (danger) and ji (opportunity).
In fact, wei (危) does mean "danger, dangerous; endanger, jeopardize; perilous; precipitous, precarious; high; fear, afraid", but the polysemous ji (機) means "machine, mechanical; airplane; suitable occasion; crucial point; pivot; incipient moment; opportune, opportunity; chance; key link; secret; cunning". While the word jihui (機會) means "opportune, opportunity" in modern Chinese, its ji component has many meanings, of which "opportunity" is only one. In weiji (危機), ji means "crucial point", not "opportunity".[7]
Popular culture
The nonce word crisitunity was used in the "Fear of Flying" episode of The Simpsons[8]. Lisa says, "Look on the bright side, Dad. Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for 'crisis' as they do for 'opportunity'?" Homer replies, "Yes! Cris-atunity." Although The Simpsons Archive spells this portmanteau "cris-atunity",[9] "crisitunity" is more commonly used.
Footnotes and references
- ^ Others include Tao, Feng Shui, pinyin, and hoisin.
- ^ Chinese Recorder (January 1938, "The Challenge of Unusual Times")
- ^ Language Log, March 27, 2007
- ^ Remarks by President Kennedy at the Convocation of the United Negro College Fund
- ^ Rice Highlights Opportunities After Setbacks On Mideast Trip
- ^ Testimony of Honorable Al Gore
- ^ Crisis" Does NOT Equal "Danger" Plus "Opportunity": How a misunderstanding about Chinese characters has led many astray, Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature,University of Pennsylvania
- ^ April 26th, 2006 edition of The A.V. Club
- ^ 2F08 Fear of Flying, an episode summary from The Simpsons Archive fansite