“SUICIDED: THE ADVERSATIVE PASSIVE AS A FORM OF ACTIVE RESISTANCE.”

Language is changing at a torrid pace in China, and it’s not just a massive infusion of English words that is to blame. Nor can we simply ascribe the dramatic changes in language usage to rampant, wild punning for the purpose of confusing the ubiquitous censors.

Creative manipulation of lexical and grammatical constructions is another way to express ideas that are not permitted under the harsh social controls imposed by the government. …

Lately, it has become fashionable to use the passive voice with verbs that don’t normally allow it and in situations that seem ludicrous. One of the most celebrated examples is bèi zìshā 被自殺 (“be suicided”), with the implication that someone was beaten to death, but the authorities made it look as though he had committed suicide. Once coined, bèi zìshā spread like wildfire, so that it wasn’t long before it merited its own entry in online dictionaries and encyclopedias.

more (via Ratty)