Zhing-zhong () is a
Zimbabwean
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Moza ...
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
word meaning low cost Asian (mostly Chinese) consumer products of poor quality.
The word gained traction in Zimbabwe during the 2000s when an
influx
Influx may refer to:
* Flux (biology) of ions, molecules or other substances from the extracellular space to the intracellular space
* ''Influx'', a 2014 science-fiction novel by Daniel Suarez
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of ...
of Chinese merchants and storekeepers imported consumer products into Zimbabwe.
The term carries strong connotations of widespread discontent over the continued de-industrialisation of Zimbabwe, and the replacement of its products with Chinese ones. In some quarters, "zhing-zhong" or simply "zhing" is a slur for the Chinese. Perhaps mindful of this, the
Government of Zimbabwe
The politics of Zimbabwe takes place in a framework of a full presidential republic, whereby the President is the head of state and government as organized by the 2013 Constitution. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative pow ...
is reported to have banned the word. The word "zhing-zhong", according to Thulani Chikanda, refers to products from China even if they are of high quality, it is not about being cheap but about the origin. Chikanda also argues that this word was merely a petition to the government to tell China to improve quality on products.
"Zhing-zhong" is a synonym to the South African word "Fon-kong".
Ironically, the original Chinese word (精装) means "deluxe" and is often used in Chinese advertisements.
See also
*
China–Zimbabwe relations
China and Zimbabwe have had a close, but chequered, relationship since the latter's independence.
History
China–Zimbabwe relations date back to January 1979, during the Rhodesian Bush War. The Soviet Union supported Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe Afric ...
*
Ching chong
"Ching chong" and "ching chang chong" are ethnic slurs and racial pejorative terms sometimes used in English to mock the Chinese language, people of Chinese ancestry, or other people of East Asian descent perceived to be Chinese. The term is a ...
*
Shanzhai
''Shanzhai'' () is a Chinese term literally meaning "mountain fortress" or "mountain camp", whose contemporary use usually encompasses counterfeit, imitation, or parody products and events and the subculture surrounding them. ''Shanzhai'' produc ...
References
{{Reflist
China–Zimbabwe relations
Zimbabwean culture
Pejorative terms related to technology
2000s slang