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 temporary worker shields permanent employees from investigation.
临时工 (línshígōng): temporary workers
“Temporary workers,” whoever they may be, are often used as a convenient scapegoat by officials. When several sponsors of the The Backbone Award withdrew their money, they claimed their support had been granted through documents forged by “temporary workers.” In January 2013, one netizen quipped that Beijing’s two million propaganda workers “outside the system” must be temporary workers.
