Expensive country

贵国 (guì guó): expensive country

“Expensive country.” (source unknown)

Sarcastic reference to China. Popularized because of discontent over high prices; gui guo is a country where basic needs like housing, fuel, power, and health care are all too costly.

Gui is also the honorific form of “your”; gui guo, literally “your honorable country,” is often used in diplomatic speech. Using gui guo in reference to China separates the speaker from his country, in opposition to 我国 wǒ guó, “our country.” Xiao Qiang and Perry Link explain that in this turn of phrase, netizens imply that “the state...belongs to you rulers, not to me.”

Example:

@Athena_T: Google Maps is infinitely better than all the alternatives. Yet, for a variety of reasons, it can't be used inside this expensive country. (October 22, 2014)

Google map就是好用几万倍 贵国就是各种奇葩不能用 真是 [Chinese]

See also kneeling country and Celestial Empire.