Your mother forced this on us

都是你妈逼的 (dōu shì nǐ mā bī de): your mother forced this on us

This phrase, which originates from a joke that went viral on the Internet, has been adopted by netizens for use when they feel unable to comment on something politically sensitive. They will say 妈逼的: mother (i.e., the Party) forced this on me (i.e., forced me to refrain from commenting). The phrase also carries an additional layer of subversive meaning: in Mandarin, “mother forced this” (妈逼的) sounds nearly the same as “your mother's cunt”.

The original joke involves a man and a woman who are rehearsing for a play:

Woman: It seems that the matter of our marriage has been forced upon us by your mother.

女：我看啊，咱俩的婚事儿，都是你妈逼的．

Man: Ha, the way I see it, it was your mother that forced it on us.

男：呵呵，我看，是你妈逼的吧．

Woman: Your mother forced this on us, your mother forced this on us. It was your mother that forced this on us! [In Chinese this sounds like, “your mother's cunt, your mother's cunt.”]

女：你妈逼的，你妈逼的！就是你妈逼的！

Man: Mother-fucker! I’m not rehearsing any more! Which idiot wrote these lines?

男：妈了个逼的！不排了！哪个王八蛋写的词儿?

A political variation of the joke further explains the phrase's contemporary usage:

Hu Zheteng (Hu Jintao): Oh Party, you are my dear mother!

胡折腾: 党啊，亲爱的妈妈！

Foreign exchange student passing by: The Party is your mother?

路过外国留学生：党是你的妈妈？

Hu Zheteng: That’s right. What about it?

胡折腾：对啊，怎么了？

Foreign exchange student: I hear that Google is going to pull out of China. Did your mother force them to do this? [Sounds like, “your mother's cunt.”]

路过外国留学生：听说，Google要退出中国了，你妈逼的？

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