Nothing's same now, Comrade_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Nothing's same now, Comrade

Contrary to the bonding it was supposed to evoke, "comrade" in my experience had the instant effect of distancing. If someone called me "Comrade", it meant one of several things: He did not know me personally; he was not likely to develop a personal friendship with me; he was more likely somebody in a position to scold me.

Actually, we had a way of getting around it - at least in the Shanghai vicinity - we called strangers "Masters" (shifu), as in masters and apprentices, not masters and servants.

Over the last two decades, "comrade" has been increasingly consigned to official occasions, thus taking on an air of pomposity. Moreover, it is exclusively used as a one-size-fits-all title rather than a form of direct address. An obituary may say that Comrade so-and-so passed away, but I doubt anyone dared to call him "Comrade" in person.

In the nation's capital, "comrade" has enjoyed a longer shelf life than most places. But people have a way of using it yet avoiding pretentiousness. On a bus, the conductor may say "Can this comrade give up your seat to this passenger with a baby?" Mind you, it is different from directly addressing someone as "Comrade".

Then there is the new meaning first used in Hong Kong and Taiwan and now widely accepted among the young in the rest of the country. "Comrade" has been the adopted name for gays and lesbians, first as a euphemism and now the most generic term (but rarely in addressing). This poses a big headache to the Net nannies who have their hearts set on eradicating every trace of homosexuality from the Web. (They equate homosexuality with pornography.) If every webpage with "tongzhi" is blocked, that essentially wipes out the history of the Communist Party.