dazibao means A wall-mounted newspaper or similar, used as a form of protest, propaganda, and popular communication in China. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.
dazibao is pronounced /dɑːdzəˈbaʊ/.
Why “dazibao” is a great word
DAZIBAO — [Noun] A large, publicly displayed poster, often handwritten, used in China for protest, propaganda, or mass communication. Etymologically a transliteration of Mandarin 大字报 (dàzìbào), from dà ("big"), zì ("character"), and bào ("newspaper" or "poster"). Unlike a "pamphlet," designed for private, hand-to-hand distribution, or "graffiti," an often impulsive and illicit scrawl, the dazibao is a sanctioned yet insurgent public performance of text. It is the slap of black ink on a whitewashed wall, the rustle of rice paper under the scrutinizing fingers of a crowd, and the stark silhouette of an accusation hung where all must see it—a fragile monument to the terrifying power of the word when it is stripped of all intimacy and scaled for the street.
noun
- A wall-mounted newspaper or similar, used as a form of protest, propaganda, and popular communication in China.“There are also artifacts like a poster called a dazibao, from 1968. The big Chinese characters on the poster form political slogans and names of public enemies. The names crossed off in red represent people who were executed, Ms. Shannon said.”