Alan Park
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Valentines Day, aka “Catch Your Lover Day” in China
A Valentines Day billboard has Shijiazhuang residents talking:
“Don’t get off track on Valentines Day — Let love return home (不要出轨情人节，让爱回家 – bú yào chū guǐ qíng rén jié ，ràng ài huí jiā).”
Apparently, Valentines Day is a special day for people in monogamous relationships, but not necessarily for the reason you would expect: many husbands/wives hire private detectives to see if their spouses are cheating on them.
And so, there’s some new Chinese slang for Valentines Day (情人节 – qín rén jié) in China: 擒人节(qín rén jié), or “Catch Your Lover Day.”
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To be precise, 擒人节(qín rén jié) has two meanings:
- The day when husbands/wives hire private detectives to investigate whether their spouses are engaged in affairs.
- The day when single people look for another person to spend Valentines Day with.
Here’s a breakdown of the characters in 擒人节(qín rén jié):
擒 (qín): to catch or capture
人 (rén): human or person (here it could also be considered to be short for lover – 情人- qíng rén)
节 ( jié): holiday
Here are a couple examples of how to use the word 擒人节(qín rén jié):
Example 1)
“在私家侦探行业，情人节这一天变成了名副其实的擒人节 “
“zài sī jiā zhēn tàn háng yè, qíng rén jié zhè yī tiān biàn chéng le míng fù qí shí de qín rén jié “
“In the private detective industry, this day Valentines Day has truly become ‘catch people day‘”
Example 2)
“情人节也被人戏称为擒人节，说的是表白成功，擒获爱人 “
“qíng rén jié yě bèi rén xì chēng wéi qín rén jié, shuō de shì biǎo bái chéng gōng, qín huò ài rén “
“Valentines Day has also been called Catch a Lover Day; meaning you profess your love successfully, and catch your lover”
Hope that you have a real Valentines Day – (情人节 – qín rén jié) – and not a 擒人节(qín rén jié)!
