Course:ASIA319/2022/"flop" (糊)

Introduction

The Chinese character for "flop". The word is comprised of 2 character components - "米" means rice, "胡" means recklessly.

糊 (hú) is a character in Chinese languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, etc) that can be used both as a noun and verb referring to paste; this paste in the traditional meaning usually refers to porridge or congee of some kind. Relating words/when paired with other characters, 糊 (hú) can be used as a descriptor of tackiness/stickiness to a descriptor of one’s financial lifestyle.

With the rise of globalization and internet culture, 糊 (hú) has a gained new meaning of “flop”, similar to the slang usage of “flop” in the English language.  糊 (hú) acts as a loanword adaptation of “flop” in online discourse specifically in Mainland China. “Flop” largely refers to a failure and general failure with prominence in online communities that are fandom or “fan circle” based in the online context. The character's 糊 (hú) redefinition is in the context of the landscape of online although not limited but is specifically prominent in online discussions within the realm of the entertainment industry which encompasses other industries such as the movie/film, television, music, and idol industries; it can also be used as a tool to understand socio-political aspects of these industries as well.

The genesis of 糊

It is difficult to investigate the origin of 糊 (hú) in contemporary popular culture because of its initial widespread use only in unofficial subcultural groups. However, after comparing several discussions of the online meaning of the word at different points in time, it could be concluded that the word first originated from Baidu Tieba, an online forum in mainland China. On Baidu Tieba, users can post posts related to their topics in forums of different interests; if the post receives many replies, the post will always be in the front row of the current forum; if the number of replies is low, the post will "flop". And "flop" is similar to the pronunciation of “胡萝卜 hú luó bo" meaning carrot in Chinese. And after people widely use “胡萝卜” to refer to "flop", the first word 糊 (hú) became the abbreviation of "胡萝卜". Therefore, the word 糊 (hú) on the Internet is originally referred to as the state of a post that has flopped.

Glossary of 糊's explicit dictionary meanings

From literary meaning, 糊 (hú) means congee, rice gruel, and porridge. There was a traditional concept in ancient China: "to eat gruel to allay one's hunger." Because of economic constraints, many families could not afford food during that time. Therefore, congee, like simple food that was easy to make and low cost, became the new meal choice. In addition, the character "糊" also means "muddled and unclear," which is generally used in a derogatory sense. In modern society, 糊 (hú) is also used as fandom slang. It means some celebrities lost popularity because they did something that lost their reputation or lacked resources in the entertainment industry. Besides, 糊 (hú) has the meaning of victory in the mahjong game.

There are three pronunciations of 糊 in Chinese, each representing a different lexical category :

• 糊 【hū】

（1）plaster  

糊窟窿【hū kū long】: paste the hole

糊上一层泥【hū shàng yī céng ní】: paste a layer of mud

（2）Affix: Superimposed after an adjective to aggravate the degree.

黑糊糊【hēi hū hū】: black / dark / dusky / indistinct

粘糊糊【nián hū hū】: slimy

• 糊【hú】

（1）thick congee/ thick gruel

Same meaning as “餬【hú】”

（2）paste

糊纸【hú zhǐ】: Stick it with paper

（3）make both ends meet/ live from hand to mouth

养家糊口【yǎng jiā hú kǒu】: ​​support one's family;  to have difficulty feeding a family

糊 was written as 餬 in ancient times and later became 糊 by simplifying the Chinese character.

(4) burnt

烧糊【shāo hú】: burnt

(5) confused

糊涂【hú tu】: confused

• 糊【hù】

(1) Food like thick congee

面糊【miàn hù】: flour paste

糨糊【jiàng hù】: paste

(2) be perfunctory

糊弄【hù nòng】: to fool / to deceive / to go through the motions

(3)muddle through

你别糊人【nǐ bié hù rén】: to deceive / to hoodwink

The radical of the character "糊" is "米," which means rice. It also reflects the literal meaning of "糊," which is related to rice and flour paste. "糊" is also evolved from the initial character "餬" to the current Chinese character shape. According to one of the linguistic works in the Qing dynasty《说文解字注》written by Duan Yucai, it recorded that "（餬)寄食也。左傳：餬其口於四方。方言曰：餬，寄也。寄食曰餬。引伸之羲，釋言曰餬饘也是," which means 餬 in ancient times has the meaning of depending on somebody for a living(寄食jì shí). And the definition of "寄食" is similar to the common word "养家糊口." In addition, 餬 has the derivative meaning of 餬饘 (hú zhān), which means gruel or congee. In modern Chinese usage, both ancient definitions of "糊" have been retained.

糊 in Chinese Popular Culture: Multiple Meanings and Usages

Usage in online discussion forums, media, and the popular press

Recipe on Black Sesame Sweet Soup from Youtube channel Mama Cheung

糊 - by itself, in its traditional or original meaning roughly means a type of congee, rice gruel, or refers to a porridge of sorts. It can be seen at the end of congee or porridge type names such as  黑芝麻糊 (hēi zhīma hú) which means Black Sesame Soup in its English translation. It can also directly refer to a paste, or to paste meaning it takes on both a noun and verb. In a general sense, 糊 (hú) can largely refer to a sticky or thick substance when considering its main definition as well as its definition that is of noun and verb.

糊 (hú) is also now being used within the online popular Chinese culture realm with a different definition. 糊 (hú) has been adapted as a phonetic loan word from the English slang word “flop” with 糊 (hú) now being used in a similar fashion as a descriptor word for someone or something that would be considered a failure, unsuccessful, or past their prime. This term has been growing in prominence specifically in online discussions that revolve around the celebrity culture and entertainment industries which include but are not limited to music, idol, TV/ film, and media culture. In the media and entertainment landscape, the character 糊 (hú) is prominently placed before the described person or thing to heavily suggest the failure or unsuccessful status of the subject. For example, in an article that describes a box office or theatre failure, the movie can be framed as a 糊电影 (diànyǐng hú).

In addition to as a lone character, adding other characters to pair with 糊 (hú) can create words that roughly translate to 糊涂 (hútú) muddled/silly/confused, 糊糊 (húhú) another reiteration of the word for congee/ porridge, 含糊 (hánhú) obscurity, and 糊口 (húkǒu) to get by without difficulties. The third word 糊口 (húkǒu) connects to the more internet based or “slang” definition version of  糊 (hú).

Words and phrases related with 糊

糊了/糊穿地心

When firstly being used in the online forum Baidu Tieba, 糊了 was used to refer to the post that didn’t go viral and got least replies. After being occupied by fandom, this word is to refer to the state of a celebrity who has been no longer popular and commercially successful. Especially used when different groups of fans are comparing celebrities’ commercial achievement and attempting to prove the others’ bias has flopped(糊了). 糊穿地心 literally means ‘flop through the earth’s core’, which is a more exaggerated way to express 糊了 and mostly means the same.

糊咖/糊逼

The term “糊咖” is a disparaging term to refer to celebrities who have flopped. 咖 originates from Southern Min meaning ‘somebody’ when is individually used. When being combined with a word before it, 咖 means a group of people. 糊咖 means (one of) the group of people who have flopped. 糊逼 is another version of, in which 逼 literally means vagina but here also means “a group of people”. For example, 奋斗逼 refers to people who act to work or study extra time trying to be successful.

When loved ones are called “糊咖/糊逼” by outsiders, fans will take to confront the commenters by reporting, refuting or even human flesh search. However interestingly, fans on the other hand actively use “糊咖” to call their idol themselves to avoid some disputes initiated by comparison within the fandoms. For example, 我们家XX是糊咖，勿cue（My idol XX is a 糊咖, don’t cue him/her if you’re doing comparison）

Transference of 糊 to different countries

There is no literal meaning of 糊 (hú) in English, such as related to sticky food, but the slang for flop in English is highly similar to the Chinese one; both have the sense of celebrities who end up not being famous. In French and Japanese, the character 糊’s general meaning is something like paste or glue, which is precisely the same as one of the literal meanings of 糊 in Chinese.

In English - flop

• Meanings

1: to swing or move loosely

2: to throw or move oneself in a heavy, clumsy, or relaxed manner

3: to change or turn suddenly

4: to go to bed

5: to fail completely

• Usage

The phrase “don't let this flop” or “don't let it flop” is commonly used as a caption on TikTok to encourage people to like and share a video. “ Flop” refers to a failure or, more specifically in this scenario, to a video that doesn't go viral

In French - coller

• Meaning:【kɔle】- paste, glue, to splice; colloquial,  reject a candidate, give a failing, grade to someone

• Collocations

planche collée：glued board

être collé：Failed the exam

• Example

Il peut aussi se coller plusieurs fois.

It can also be glued several times.

In Japanese - 糊，のり

• Meaning:【nori】- paste, glue, sizing

• Collocations

糊付け【のりづけnorizuke】starching (e.g. clothes); / pasting; gluing (e.g. paper, a letter)

洗濯糊【せんたくのりsentakunori】laundry starch

• Example

彼はメモをドアに糊で貼った。

He pasted the notice on the door.

Counterpart term in Korean

In Korean, there is a word carrying pretty much the same meaning and notation to 糊 (hú) in Chinese - which is 누구 (nugu). 누구 (nugu) in its literal meaning is an interrogative pronoun - "who". However, along with the rapid growth of the K-pop industry, the word now carries an additional meaning within the K-pop fan community which is - "the unknown artist". By calling an artist or idol a 누구 (nugu), they are referring to a person with no fame and position in Korea’s music and entertainment industry.

Compared to 糊 (hú) in Chinese, 누구 (nugu) also signifies the lack of success in one's career. However, they differ in a really interesting way. In Chinese, it refers to someone who has once achieved fame and fortune, but later due to some reason, they are no longer anticipated by the public and hence witness the fall of their career. On the other hand, in Korean, 누구 (nugu) refers to a person who has yet to acquire a certain position within the industry and is still struggling to differentiate themselves in the extremely competitive industry.

What makes the difference? The reason might lie in the 2 countries' different economies and governance models. Since Korea has followed the neoliberal, capitalist economy ever since the post-IMF era, their market is a free market in which any forms of neoliberal products are all welcomed. As a result, the K-pop industry has grown robustly, turning it into an extremely competitive industry. The industry's strong growth together with the government’s non-intervention in the operation has created an industry where the number of participants becomes overwhelming, making the chance of success for a K-pop idol-wannabe to decrease.

Zheng Shuang being digitally removed from drama series and blacklisted over scandals.

Alternatively, China - despite numerous aspects containing ideals of neoliberalism - identifies itself as a socialist country. Therefore, in China, although economic imperative matters, it still comes second to the state’s embraced ideologies. In other words, the CCP wouldn't risk violating their values for economic development. Therefore, since the entertainment industry is a sector having great influence over the people, the state would be cautious in allowing which artists to become public figures. Hence, the situation in which a successful artist being prohibited from continuing their career in the entertainment industry is not an alien thing in China. One of the most significant cases is the case of actress Zheng Shuang who was involved in tax evasion and numerous other scandals. As a result, she had to hand a fine of 299 million yuan ($46 million) for overdue taxes, all of her works were deleted from streaming sites, and of course, she was banned from any future projects in the entertainment industry

Social and political problems

In 12 days from March 26 to April 6, the top 20 trainees grossed over 100 million votes. Cai Xukun, who came first, received 47.64 million votes in total.

The word 糊 (hú) is used mainly in Chinese entertainment industry which is now witnessing the rising and thriving of the idols model. One of the most evident examples is the show “Idol Producer” - a 'survival' show in which the top 9 candidates out of the initial 100 participants will have the chance to debut as a group. The show has received enormous anticipation from the audience that the winner from season 1 received 47.64 million votes, which is 8 times higher than the winner of the past hit talent show "Super girl" . Since this model has seen the highest of its success in the K-pop industry of Korea, by looking into the social and political problems entailed from the K-pop’s idols model, the future of the Chinese music industry can also somehow be unveiled.

Social Problem – An exploitative working condition

In the K-pop industry, idols often have to go through an exploitative journey before and during their time working as K-pop idols. The exploitation would be examined by adopting 2 perspectives: K-pop idols as a product of neoliberalism’s cultural genre  and K-pop idols as labor forces driving Korea’s capitalist economy.

Since this neoliberal model is dependent on the voluntary participation of the idol-wannabes, these individuals have to bear the full cost of the training process, which often involves learning a foreign language, dancing, singing, and acting – which they have no autonomy over what type of training they wish to take because those are the standardized stages of the manufacturing process. Normally, the manufacturer has to use their pocket money to make an investment in the product and would either incur a loss or gain profits, depending on the success of the product. However, in the K-pop industry, it is the trainees who are liable for the investment. This is how the entertainment industry takes advantage of their voluntary participation and argues that such costs are the fees the trainees should pay for receiving the training procedures. In this sense, the idols are considered as members paying for their annual membership for the training services, instead of as future-profit generators receiving investment from the investors. In terms of the specific numbers, it's estimated that it costs approximately $5,000 per trainee a month on average . For the entire training process, in the case of the girl group Girls' Generation, it costs a total of $2.6 million per member

Not only being exploited financially, the trainees also have to go through an exploitative “manufacturing process” - a  training process that often takes about 7 years before the trainees are considered ready for their debut. During those 7 years, they experience a distressing practice journey as they have to comply with a military camp-like training standard, which often involves training without any sustained rest or relaxation, in a state of semi permanent sleep deprivation ...[occasionally resulting in] physical injury and illness, not to mention mental stress" The star manufacturing process begins from as early as 11 years old and doesn't accept any candidate older than 20 years old - an age range that falls completely under the level when one joins the workforce. Additionally, the contract with the companies often lasts up to 17 years , in order for the management company to both recoup their initial investment and gain profit from the idols’ activities.

As we can see, as opposed to the glittering, adored, and celebrated image that the public perceives, the K-pop idols are actually hyper-exploited workers, whose working conditions can be relatively compared to that of the sweatshirt factory workers.

Political Problem – A capitalism-driven economy

Girls' Generation - with breakout hit “Gee” in 2009 - has became undisputed leaders of a generation of girl groups and have since released hit after hit.

The way K-pop embraces the capitalist economy is not only shown through their exploitative process for monetary causes but is also unraveled through the way they manipulate the production and consumption process. K-pop idols, especially female idols, are utilized for promoting production as well as facilitating consumption of their main audience, which are mainly female consumers.

Since the capitalist economy is dependent upon a perpetual continuation of production and production, K-pop idols are used as the medium spreading the message about self-transformation and self-engineering into a better version - which is: through rigorous training they eventually become successful idols, encouraging the audience to become the next labor force. As a result, media consumers would internalize the ideals and voluntarily want to be part of the labor force of the neoliberal economy - which is also a common message often encountered in the media in China. While this memo bears resemblance to China’s state propaganda, the message sent by K-pop idols holds way greater power. Since K-pop idols are often individuals being adored, idolized and even worshiped by their fandoms, their messages have a way more compelling effect as their audience already hold their idols in a 'god-like' status. This way, they might willingly agree with and resonate with their idols way more than a neutral opinionated person being exposed to a random ideal.

The way the K-pop industry functions also lays the groundwork for hyper-consumerism within their audience base. In Western countries, while it's true that there would be a steady flow of music during their first few years, the music in the later phase often depends on the artist’s intention.  Therefore, the average cycle would be 2-3 years for new music to be released . However, in the K-pop industry, the time for a comeback (which is the word used among K-pop fans referring to the time that an artist releases their new music) is on average 3-4 months - a  turnover rate that is 8 times higher than that of a Western artist. This is not to use the Western norm as a standard, but as a comparison to see the incredibly exploitative schedule of K-pop idols. In addition to an intensive comeback schedule, K-pop products are often manufactured with highly crafted visuals and an element of novelty in each comeback, which often has different concepts with different visuals, different theories - a relentless repetition of fantasy -  making the consumer base always want for more.

Altogether, it creates a loop of producing and consuming - a process that is voluntarily participated by both forces.

Secondary and Related Studies of 糊

Globalization and expansion of 糊 (hú) in both the direct meaning and its can be extended in a variety of different ways. For 糊 (hú)  as porridge, congee, and overall paste, the growing reach or use of this word can be connected to the migration and settlement of Chinese people in different regions and creating the Chinese diaspora and consequently, the prominence of Chinese food culture in a variety of different regions. In the 2004 book “The Globalization of Chinese Food”, in a chapter titled “Chinese Dietary Culture in Indonesian Urban Society”, author of that chapter Mely G. Tan explores how the migrant Chinese population contributed to the economic or fiscal aspects of the city Jakarta and how Chinese food and food culture are intertwined. Tan explores how many foods and by extent loanwords from the Chinese language are used and adapted into everyday Jakarta language including a prominent food like porridge/congee 糊 (hú).

糊 (hú) can also be noticed in linguistic studies when considering the migrational aspects and international based language sharing that occurs especially when considering online communities around a topic may encompass different communities and people from completely different geographic locations in the world. In a study about Chinese fandom language, researcher Aiqing Wang explores the extensive terminology used within fandom circles for online discourse and ties how terminology choice may have larger implications set in political realities. Wang discusses how a significant portion of fandom based language in the Chinese fandom context often borrows and reformats from language already established and used  in Internet based discourse; Wang also adds how these already existing terminologies give opportunity for people with the online fandom community to discuss topics that may be more socially taboo in their community in a more subtle way.

Given its almost rebirth within the digital space, 糊 (hú) can be considered within the discussion of influence of internet based slang into the real world. In the current era of rapid globalization and instantaneous information exchange, internet based slang especially those of a more casual language can be identified as almost agents of globalization especially between average people in their respective regions.

Conclusion

The usage and definition of 糊 (hú) currently exists in its traditional and original use to represent sticky, thick substances like congee and porridge while exists in the digital space as a descriptor that represents someone or something’s failures, general unsuccessful-ness, or being past their prime. 糊 (hú) within its redefined terminology in the digital space reveals an opening to study socio-political concepts within the Chinese online landscape as well as the transnational national relationships and flow of information that occurs through the online world. Specifically in the growing idol industry in Asia especially in South Korea, socio-political implications that are connected to the 糊 (hú) and its Korean language counterpart contribute to discussions of capitalism and aspects of labor utilized through the industry both from idol/company side to the regular consumer’s perspective. Similar slang usage has been seen in different regions and therefore different languages in the world from latin based to languages based in East Asia giving opportunity to further explore the changing relationship and usages of loanwords to internet or slang based words into the formal recognized language of the everyday real world.  

References

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