Xinhua News Agency, May 20, 2011
"Dear friends and colleagues, I have given up everything and eloped with someone... Please forgive me! Respectfully, Someone." Following the "roar style" of parallel exclamation marks and "Is there or not," recently a financial professional publicly announced their elopement on their personal Weibo, leading to a new blank-filling sentence format quickly becoming popular on the Internet. Not only did it dominate the top rankings of major Weibo charts, but it also formed the so-called "elopement style."
Compared to last year's "giving strength" and "floating clouds," the trend of using newly popular online phrases for blank-filling sentences has become increasingly prevalent this year. Counting them includes "roar style," "Dandan style," "Jiacuo style," "Lihua style," and more... On one hand, many netizens are tirelessly enthusiastic, while some scholars worry about "once Weibo appears, literature dies" or "language cannot be overly entertained."
The tradition of expressing individuality through "blank-filling sentences" has a long history.
"The statement, 'Whether you see me or not, I am there, unchanging, neither sad nor happy,' was turned by many netizens into humorous commentary on life, such as 'Eat or not, the meat is there, neither fat nor thin; sleep or not, the bed is there, neither soft nor hard.' This is called 'Jiacuo style.'
"Roar style" unexpectedly became popular this spring. Users type multiple exclamation marks, paired with "is there or not" (a homophone for "do you have") and "hurt too much," which appear in sentences. People use this format to create sentences, humorously commenting on various social phenomena and lifestyles. "Is there or not" and "hurt too much" even appeared in newspaper headlines and public speeches.
The recently popular "elopement style" has evolved into versions like "Ultraman and Little Monster" and "Forbidden City," either parodying social news or relating to personal experiences, spreading widely online. Some merchants have directly used the "elopement" format for advertisements.
Fudan University Associate Professor Yan Feng analyzed that the blank-filling sentence trend prevalent this year did not start suddenly. It can be traced back to the late 1990s when the "Big Talk Western Journey" series of films were released, where the classic dialogues between the male and female protagonists were humorously turned into various texts.
Back then, actor Zhou Xingchi said in the film: "Once there was a sincere love before me, but I didn't cherish it..." This format had already sparked a wave of sentence creation before the widespread use of the Internet domestically.
Yan Feng analyzed that if we must categorize, then the "Big Talk style" could be considered the pioneer of blank-filling sentence trends, even preceding the popularity of blogs and Weibo. From this, we can see that Weibo itself is merely a medium accelerating the spread of such trends, while the deeper reasons for the popularity of blank-filling sentences lie elsewhere. One reason is that self-expression emphasizing individuality and emotional release is being increasingly accepted by more people.
Should we treat these phenomena with tolerance, or should we analyze them meticulously?
From "whether you see or not" to "give up everything and elope with someone," via the rapid spread of Weibo, various online blank-filling sentences take turns appearing, leaving people dazzled. Some scholars worry that this fast-food culture cannot withstand the test of time and may even undermine the foundation of traditional literature.
Not long ago, writer Ma Yuan proposed at a seminar that the randomness of online vocabulary is overturning traditional classics. The current phenomenon of reader fans and entertainment writing poses concerns for traditional language and literature.
Contrary to this view, Hao Mingjian, editor-in-chief of the Shanghai-based "Chewing Words and Analyzing Characters" magazine and a linguistics expert who has persistently served as a "woodpecker" for Chinese literature for over a decade, believes that we should positively and tolerantly view these new phenomena of online language and should not one-sidedly worry about its potential to cause a crisis in language and literature.
Hao Mingjian stated that from "roar style" to "elopement style," these are all applications of the linguistic techniques known as "parody" and "fill-in-the-blank." The popularity of these online styles essentially finds a "frame," places different expressions inside it, and creates a language game effect.
According to observations and research by the editorial department of "Chewing Words and Analyzing Characters," contemporary Chinese people have needs beyond basic expression and communication, namely an "added value" demand, which is a certain level of entertainment effect. It can add color to life. Hao Mingjian said that this is harmless and contributes to social harmony.
"Much like a 'basket' of language, as netizens fill in the blanks, they also express their emotions and views on social phenomena. The effects of emotional release and self-expression are relatively evident, helping fast-paced urban dwellers vent suppressed feelings, thus having positive significance," Yan Feng said.
According to Yan Feng's analysis, the network communication method of blank-filling sentences is actually an open literary participation, reflecting the new trend of 'readers becoming protagonists.' He believes that from this perspective, vivid online language and sentence structures have indeed sounded an alarm for the traditional literary creation model that only emphasizes one-way transmission by writers.
Hao Mingjian said that language itself requires renewal and continuous development. Good online language will be absorbed into the language system. For example, the word "雷人" successfully transformed a noun into a verb and is very vivid. The rediscovery of the character "囧" is a result of active learning and application. The word "给力" even made it onto the front page of the People's Daily, reflecting the universality of language creation.
"Roaring" and "eloping" must have boundaries.
Not long ago, at a youth forum held in Shanghai, a student representative from a southern university suggested incorporating elements of "roar style" such as "is there or not" and "hurt too much" into university political and history classes. However, this suggestion was unacceptable to many peers present.
University student Li Bin believed that although he often uses "roar style" online, it should not be abused in certain specific situations. Otherwise, it might seem like seeking attention unnecessarily.
Hou Jing, a teacher at Beijing Normal University's School of Philosophy and Sociology, believed that "using 'roar style' to showcase oneself and express individuality is entirely understandable, but it must adhere to principles without crossing moral boundaries or harming others' interests and feelings." Recently, Ji Lianhai, one of the main speakers on the "100 Schools Forum," also proposed that "roar style" should be used appropriately in certain situations, as it might be absurd in others.
Yan Feng analyzed that Weibo, limited to about a hundred characters, has sparked more interest in word choice and sentence construction among more people, but the creation itself cannot be done carelessly. While each subject expresses emotions, they should also follow the principle of "self-restraint."
Hao Mingjian analyzed that there are quite a lot of "linguistic garbage" and language violence phenomena online, and non-standard language usage is rampant. "It looks lively, but much of it will be eliminated." For example, the confusion caused by terms like "cup tragedy" and "washing tools" may just be fleeting trends.
He also reminded that there are currently some commercial behaviors and market hype, arbitrarily jumping on the bandwagon of online language and sentence patterns, with online armies pushing behind the scenes. In such cases, "roaring" and "eloping" may not be so simple. He believes that we should positively view the popular online phrases and constantly emerging sentence patterns, but specific language expression should still depend on the occasion, context, audience, and purpose of the expression.
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