Hate

There are multilingual signs all over Swarthmore (where I live) that say "Hate Has No Home Here".  The signs are printed in six languages:  English, Urdu, Hebrew, Korean, Arabic, and Spanish.  I wondered about the choice of languages, but — with a little googling — I found that these are apparently the languages most commonly spoken at Petersen Elementary School in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago, where the campaign to post these signs originated.  It's interesting that the linguistic mix of an elementary school in Chicago determined the multilingualism of signs that are being posted all over the country.

Incidentally, there is also a #LoveThyNeighbor (No Exceptions) campaign going on, and here I wondered about the archaism of the "Thy".  It seems to me that the King Jamesian language of these signs conveys clear Christian overtones, which may account for the fact that there are far fewer of these signs around than the HHNHH signs.

"Hate" is also a hot topic in China these days.

The equivalent word for "hate" in Mandarin is "hèn 恨" — short like the English word, and also beginning with an "h".

The following poem is making the rounds on Chinese social media "as execrable protests against South Korea over THAAD [VHM:  missile defense] deployment continue across the country" (in the words of the editors of China Change, where I found it in their newsletter for 3/8/17):

[Máng!]

Zǎoshang hèn Měiguó, Zhōngwǔ hèn Hánguó, Wǎnshàng hèn Rìběn. Shíjiān yǒuxiàn, chōukòng hèn Táiwān, Xīnjiāpō. Yèlǐ zuòmèng, zài hèn Yuènán, Fēilǜbīn.

Zhōuyī fǎn Hán, Zhōu'èr fǎn Rì, Zhōusān fǎn Měi, Zhōusì fǎn Táidú, Zhōuwǔ fǎn Gǎngdú, Zhōuliù fǎn Zàngdú, Zhōurì fǎn Jiāngdú.

Huó de tài chōngshí, Méi shíjiān sīkǎo qítā wèntí.

【忙！】

早上恨美国， 中午恨韩国， 晚上恨日本。 时间有限，抽空恨台湾、新加坡。 夜里做梦，再恨越南、菲律宾。

周一反韩， 周二反日， 周三反美， 周四反台独， 周五反港独， 周六反藏独， 周日反疆独。

活得太充实， 没时间思考其他问题。

Busy

In the morning I hate America, At noon I hate South Korea, In the evening I hate Japan. My time is limited, I have to steal a moment to hate Taiwan and Singapore. At night when I dream, I turn to hating Vietnam and Philippines.

On Monday I oppose South Korea, On Tuesday I oppose Japan, On Wednesday I oppose America, On Thursday I oppose Taiwan independence, On Friday I oppose Hong Kong independence, On Saturday I oppose Tibetan independence, On Sunday I oppose Xinjiang independence.

My life is too full, I have no time to think of anything else.

[h.t. Arif Dirlik; thanks to Jinyi Cai]