‘Pandemic: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!’ — Phrase of the Week
Pandemic fatigue is driving many Chinese social media users to pull out a popular phrase, in hopes of warding off the wave of COVID infections washing over the nation.
Our phrase of the week is: Pandemic: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! (疫情要退退退 yìqíng yào tuì! tuì! tuì!).
Context
As an exit wave of COVID infections rips through the Chinese population, pandemic fatigue is setting in.
Social media users are evoking a viral phrase that became popular this summer on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, to express how they feel about the pandemic.
Pandemic: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Bad people: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Bad luck: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!
疫情要“退退退,” 坏人也要“退退退,” 霉运更要“退退退！”
Yìqíng yào “tuì tuì tuì,” huàirén yě yào “tuì tuì tuì,” méi yùn gèng yào “tuì tuì tuì!”
Translation
Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! first originated in a short video clip on Douyin, which has been online since the summer of 2021. It went viral in May this year and was recently voted one of China’s top internet buzzwords of 2022.
The clip shows an intense altercation between a man who wanted to park his car and a stall owner who was using the space to sell her wares. The man yelled in outrage at the stall owner, accusing her of illegally using the parking space:
Who said you can sell things here?! Do you have a business license?! There are so few parking spaces, and you want to set up your stall here?!
谁让你们在这里卖东西？！你们有没有营业执照？！车位少得要死，你们却要在这里摆摊？！
Shéi ràng nǐmen zài zhèlǐ mài dōngxi?! Nǐmen yǒuméiyǒu yíngyè zhízhào?! Chēwèi shǎo de yàosǐ, nǐmen què yào zài zhèlǐ bǎitān?!
The old lady, a dàmā 大妈 or “aunty” in Chinese, concluded there was no reasoning with someone who was so enraged, so she simply yelled back:
Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!
退！退！退！退！退！退！
Tuì! Tuì! Tuì! Tuì! Tuì! Tuì!
With each “retreat,” she stamps her foot and exaggerates her arm gestures, reminiscent of fencing or how evil spirits are expelled in Chinese folklore.
Confused, and probably quite shocked, the man lowered his volume slightly, but continued with his rant, to which the lady responded with the same formula:
Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!
退！退！退！
Tuì! Tuì! Tuì!
In the end, the car owner walks off defeated, grumbling that he’s going to call the police.
The lady’s “magic powers” (魔法 mófǎ) for warding off evil spirits, and her fearless reaction to such aggressive behavior, is probably why she became such a huge hit on Chinese social media platforms.
Since then, Retreat! Retreat! Retreat! has become a way to convey feelings of letting go of grievances, dropping conflicts, or warding off terrible things in life. It’s often accompanied with the fencing emoji 🤺.
More recently over the last few weeks, short videos by young people channeling the lady’s magic powers have been trending on Weibo and Douyin. But this time, they are warding off the evil spirits of the pandemic: Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!
Let’s hope it works!
