Every Year Has Fish part two

A few days ago someone mentioned to me that there is no word in Chinese for "propaganda." Some have compared Chinese to Orwell's Newspeak in its simplicity. Add to that the government rewrote the language in the 50's and a phrase like, "there is no word for propagnda" is downright terrifying.

But much rumination has led me to believe this is the sort of fear that comes from lack of education. Since Chinese is a language that adds words together for more meaning, as opposed to English, which makes whole new words for things, it probably sounds like "government-administered information." Maybe. More likely, a person describing propaganda would not use a word, but rather describe the situation with one of our colorful metaphors. I expect "the weathly minister promises much fish," or, "Beijing offers words but not food," would encapsulate the feeling of propaganda far more effectively than trying to translate the word directly.

This is the gap we must bridge.

For more information on this phenomenon, please refer to Star Trek, the Next Generation, Season 4, Episode 2: "Darmok."