Phrases to cutting through all the cliched methods and schemes

If your girlfriend says: "When I was taking my medicine this morning, I heard some news," do not, under any circumstances, answer with "What news?"

If you do, you will have fallen into a trap, and the next thing you're likely to hear is: "Why didn't you ask me why I was taking medicine? You don't care about me."

A slightly longer version of this relationship trap went viral online, and many victims of this scheme reached for a new, emerging phrase: Less strategy, more sincerity (少一點套路，多一點真誠; shǎo yīdiǎn tàolù, duō yīdiǎn zhēnchéng).

No one is sure about its exact origin, but it is now employed almost everywhere.

Apparently, the essence of the buzzword is 套路 (tàolù), which is really hard to translate into English. It refers to methods, tricks, strategies or schemes, especially cliched ones. For example, a man walks up to a woman in a bar and says, "Have we met before?" The response to this is, "Come on. Less strategy, more sincerity, okay?" It means he should stop with the routine nonsense and be more creative.

In practice, however, as Chinese people rarely demonstrate their thoughts in a straightforward manner, 套路 will always have its place. Chinese conversations can seem like a chess game sometimes; the one who pulls off the most tricks wins.

The most common tàolù you'll hear is probably: "Here's a thing I'm not supposed to tell you, but I feel like you should know." Apparently, the speaker is ready to gossip but will wait for you to ask what it is first - and if you do, you're the gossip. So be tough, and answer with: "Say it or save it. Less strategy, more sincerity, please." (愛說不說。少一點套路，多一點真誠; ài shuō bù shuō. Shǎo yīdiǎn tàolù, duō yīdiǎn zhēnchéng.)

Sometimes, you can just omit the sincerity part, because the word tàolù is useful enough.

A pop star's promotional stunt is tàolù. You may hear someone say: "The lead actor and actress of the movie began a relationship? Just exactly when will it come out?" (電影的男女主角被曝出戀情？在電影馬上就要上映的時候？ Diànyǐng de nánnǚ zhǔjué bèi bàochū liànqíng? Zài diànyǐng mǎshàng jiù yào shàngyìng de shíhòu?)

So, you respond: "A classic tàolù. I guess if they work together in another movie, their breakup will make even more headlines." (經(jīng)典套路。我猜如果他們之后再合作一部電影，他們分手的消息還能再上一次頭條。 Jīngdiǎn tàolù. Wǒ cāi rúguǒ tā men zhīhòu zài hézuò yībù diànyǐng, tāmen fēnshǒu de xiāoxī hái néng zài shàng yīcì tóutiáo.)

Actually, for many people, anything on the planet they don't understand can all be interpreted as tàolù.

When the game between AlphaGo and the South Korean Go master was in the news, regardless of all the artificial intelligence technology behind the game, someone commented: "The robot is of course better at tàolù than humans."

As for what tàolù actually is, who cares?

If you are tired of the endless tàolù, come back to our "less strategy, more sincerity" creed to help you get to the point.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/29/2016 page23)