baizuo

[bahy-zwuh, bahy-zoh]

noun

Chinese: Disparaging.

1. a liberal or progressive viewed as patronizing, hypocritical, and naive, or as being concerned only with trendy causes, political correctness, virtue signaling, etc., rather than with addressing real-world problems in a realistic way: adopted by some conservatives in American political discourse.

Word History and Origins

Origin of baizuo¹

First recorded in 2015–20; from Mandarin Chinese: literally, “white left,” from bái “white, empty” (compare Cantonese baak; akin to Japanese haku, Korean baek, Vietnamese bạch ) + zuǒ “left, east” (compare Cantonese zo; akin to Japanese sa, Korean jwa, Vietnamese tả ); alternatively, the first element is a shortening of báichī “idiot,” from bái + chī “foolish, stupid” (compare Cantonese ci; akin to Japanese, Korean chi, Vietnamese si )

Example Sentences

“Try to learn from the tricks of those pro-Hong Kong independence activists. If you push me I will fall over. Fake tumble, cry and wail, call campus police. We are too strong, which won’t work in the world of baizuo.”

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Among themselves, mainland Chinese students share advice on how to attract sympathetic coverage in confrontations with the left-wing activists they call the “baizuo,” a pejorative term for Western liberals that translates as “white left.”

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“Free trade, immigration, refugees, these are things that baizuo support,” said Luo Xing, 23, a recent college graduate in Beijing.

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Internet users have even spawned a new term, baizuo, or “white left,” to criticize Western-style progressives.

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“Now I dislike him for some of the same reasons baizuo don't like him.”

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