A romanisation of the Chinese expression 躺平 /tǎngpíng/, pronounced as /taang-ping/. It means, literally, 'to lie flat' (tǎng=to lie down/to be recumbent; píng=flat/level).
Tangping is the recumbent position that symbolises inaction and lethargy by choice (evoking the image of an idler lying comatose on their back and refusing to get up for anything or anyone), not out of pure laziness (as is symptomatic of a couch potato), but in professed resignation to, and protest of, the structural injustices of prevailing social norms
that perpetuate the tail-chasing rat race and exacerbate the mismatch between efforts and rewards or the perceived paradox that hard work is penalised with dwindling returns (aka 内卷 nèijuǎn, or involution).
Tangping is the recumbent position that symbolises inaction and lethargy by choice (evoking the image of an idler lying comatose on their back and refusing to get up for anything or anyone), not out of pure laziness (as is symptomatic of a couch potato), but in professed resignation to, and protest of, the structural injustices of prevailing social norms
that perpetuate the tail-chasing rat race and exacerbate the mismatch between efforts and rewards or the perceived paradox that hard work is penalised with dwindling returns (aka 内卷 nèijuǎn, or involution).
Inside a pub at 3 pm on a weekday...
- OMG, fancy seeing you here at this hour, Dominic. What's up?
- Oh, hi, Theresa, I rage-quit my job yesterday after an ugly row with my boss for the umpteenth time. I was so fed up with that dickhead!
- I'm so sorry to hear that. What are you going to do now?
- You know what? I've had enough. I've been working my arse off and look where it's got me. I'm still living like a pauper in a rented hovel... no, worse than that: a pauper has no debt but I do. F**k it! I'll just kick back, put my feet up, let my hair down, chill out... and give the finger to the world.
- You mean 'tangping'?
- Temping? No way, I'll be damned if you see me doing another day's work, not even temping...
- No, I mean 'taang-ping', not temping.
- I don't know what that means.
- You do now.
- OMG, fancy seeing you here at this hour, Dominic. What's up?
- Oh, hi, Theresa, I rage-quit my job yesterday after an ugly row with my boss for the umpteenth time. I was so fed up with that dickhead!
- I'm so sorry to hear that. What are you going to do now?
- You know what? I've had enough. I've been working my arse off and look where it's got me. I'm still living like a pauper in a rented hovel... no, worse than that: a pauper has no debt but I do. F**k it! I'll just kick back, put my feet up, let my hair down, chill out... and give the finger to the world.
- You mean 'tangping'?
- Temping? No way, I'll be damned if you see me doing another day's work, not even temping...
- No, I mean 'taang-ping', not temping.
- I don't know what that means.
- You do now.
by EdanJ/一丹 June 07, 2021