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.
A tongue-in-cheek reference to the 2013 National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. These annual meetings are known collectively as the “Two Sessions.” The Chinese numeral two is 二 èr, but in most contexts the word 两 liǎng is used instead. Thus the Two Sessions are 两会 Liǎng Huì, not 二会 Èr Huì. In slang, 二 is short for “stupid,” from 二百五 èr bǎi wǔ (literally “two-hundred fifty”).
Netizens view the “Stupid Sessions” as a pointless, bizarre pageant, where movie stars and other celebrities are brought to Beijing to “represent” the Chinese people and “vote” on legislation they barely understand.