VIP, APP, PPT: Are English abbreviations harming China’s cultural confidence?

A Chinese speaker today might describe their day at work as first making a “PPT” (a PowerPoint presentation) and then having to “PS tu” (Photoshop an image). After clocking off, they might “chang K” (sing karaoke) with friends before taking the “C wei” (centre spot) in a group photo.

These novel phrases spring from the widespread habit of adopting English abbreviations directly into daily speech, usually pronounced letter by letter.

While this is the organic result of cultural exchange, the phenomenon has sparked concern in some quarters that the Chinese language is losing its “cultural confidence”, with one expert stressing the importance of preserving the language’s “capacity for self-renewal”.

In an interview published in the overseas edition of People’s Daily last Monday, Fang Jing, a member of the Shanxi Science Writers Association, said China was dealing with thousands of letter-based terms entering daily usage.

A key concern raised by the People’s Daily interviewer was whether the growing use of English abbreviations could limit the Chinese language’s own expressive capacity.

As new technologies entered the public’s everyday lexicon, they tended to circulate in two parallel forms – an English word and a formal Chinese name – without ever settling into common, easily understood Chinese equivalents, Fang said.