"Paper tiger" is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase zhilaohu (???/???). The term refers to something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. The expression became well known in the West as a slogan used by Mao Zedong's Chinese communist state against its opponents, particularly the U.S. government.
Video Paper tiger
Origin
Paper tiger is an ancient phrase used in Chinese culture. It was translated into English in a work by John Francis Davis that was published before 1836. In 1973, Mao Zedong claimed to have invented the English term paper tiger.
Maps Paper tiger
Use
Mao Zedong first introduced his idea of paper tigers to Americans in an August 1946 interview with American Journalist Anna Louise Strong:
In a 1956 interview with Strong, Mao used the phrase "paper tiger" to describe American imperialism again:
In 1957, Mao reminisced about the original interview with Strong:
In this view, "paper tigers" are superficially powerful but are prone to overextension that leads to sudden collapse. When Mao criticized Soviet appeasement of the United States during the Sino-Soviet split, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly said, "the paper tiger has nuclear teeth".
In The Resistance to Theory (1982), Paul de Man used the phrase to reflect upon the threat of literary theory to traditional literary scholarship in American academia. He said, "If a cat is called a tiger it can easily be dismissed as a paper tiger; the question remains however why one was so scared of the cat in the first place".
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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