No zuo no die

This is English. At least, a form of English. It is of Chinglish origin. The word zuo is Chinese and means ‘act silly’ (though literally it refers to suicidal action). The phrase thus means: if you don’t do stupid things, they won’t come back to you, if you don’t look for trouble, you won’t find any (but if you do, you will, and you will come to feel the consequences of your own actions). The phrase has gained wide popularity and has now been entered, to the bewilderment of many, into an online US dictionary, together with the derived form zhuangbility. And the phrase is parodied in a song which has recently come out. The phrase is commonly used in internet communication as a comment on someone who has brought trouble onto himself through thoughtless action. Here’s an example:

  • Some dude baked cookies shaped like iPhone, held it by the mouth when driving, tried to mess with traffic cops.
  • Did he pull it off?
  • Cop was pissed and ran his name through the system. Turns out he’s got speed tickets unpaid!
  • No zuo no die.
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