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March 8, 2014 |
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The phrase paper tiger is a literal English_language|English translation of the Chinese_language|Chinese phrase zhi laohu (紙老虎), meaning something which seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless.http://www.etymonline.com/p1etym.htm The common usage is synonymous with the adjective toothless, meaning ineffective. The phrase is an ancient one in Chinese, but sources differ as to when it entered the English vocabulary. Although some sources may claim it actually dates back as far as 1850 http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=paper+tiger, it seems the Chinese phrase was first translated when it was applied to describe the United States. In 1956, Chairman Mao Zedong, said of the US:
In recent years, it has become a frequent term used to describe China or its economy, especially in the American and British press. A variation on this term is paper champion. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Paper tiger".
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