Word of the Week comes from the Grass-Mud Horse Lexicon, a glossary of terms created by Chinese netizens and 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.
金三胖 (Jīn Sān Pàng): Kim Fatty III
Nickname for Kim Jong Un, Supreme Leader of North Korea.
Kim Jong Un inherited leadership after his father’s death in December 2011. While China’s state media expressed condolences for Kim Jong Il’s death, Chinese netizens immediately began lampooning the chubby young new leader. Kim Jong Un’s well-fed stature quickly earned him the nickname “Kim Fatty III.”
China is one of North Korea’s only allies. Over the years, the Chinese public has grown increasingly uneasy with this diplomatic relationship.
Example: Weibo users commented on Kim Jong Un’s 40-day disappearance:
悬壶问茶: Uncle Doorman Says: I asked Uncle Doorman, “Why does Kim Fatty III have to play hide-and-seek? @门卫大爷 says, “Kim Fatty III has three goals: one, to test the loyalty of his cadres; two, to see how the U.S., U.K., Japan, and South Korea react; and three, to slap Chinese intellectuals in the face. (October 14, 2014)
【门卫大爷说】我问门卫大爷：金三胖为什么要玩捉迷藏呢？@门卫大爷说：三胖玩捉迷藏有三个目的：1、考考干部队伍的忠诚度；2、看看美英日韩的反应；3、打打中国公知的脸。 [Chinese]
See also West Korea.
Want to learn more subversive netizen slang? Check out Decoding the Chinese Internet: A Glossary of Political Slang. Available for $2.99 in the Kindle, Google Play, and iTunes stores. All proceeds from the sale of this eBook support China Digital Times.
