The Dreaded Phrase

A few months ago, I learned a Chinese phrase that I really liked. It’s jia you and it’s used kind of like how we use “let’s go” or “go, fight, win.”

I like the phrase because of what it actually means. Jia means to add. You means oil. And the idea is “add oil to the fire.” Like… keep on going, keep on burning. Get it?

And, interestingly, the word for gas station is jia you zhan with zhan meaning a stop or a stand.

But because of the Olympics, I never stop hearing jia you. It’s getting exceptionally annoying. No one says anything else. In English, we have several phrases to convey this same idea. In Chinese, they only use one. And they use it often.

I don’t want to hear it again… so much so that I’m not proofreading this post because I can’t bear to even see the words again.