Top: We’re here to check the water meter! Bottom: He says their water meter is outside.
The Word of the Week comes from China Digital Space’s Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and frequently encountered in online political discussions. These are the words of China’s online “resistance discourse,” used to mock and subvert the official language around censorship and political correctness.
If you are interested in participating in this project by submitting and/or translating terms, please contact the CDT editors at CDT [at] chinadigitaltimes [dot] net.
抄水表 (chāo shuǐbiǎo): check the water meter
A euphemism for a house call from the police. Instead of demanding to be let in, the police simply pretend to be from the water utility and coerce the resident to open the door. This may also appear as 查水表 (chá shuǐbiǎo), which has the same meaning.
See also drink tea.
