The Art of the Diss

China's internet sensation is a music video about a mythical mud grass horse. Check out the video and you'll see the captions reveal otherwise. Mud grass horse is actually "f--- your mom" in Mandarin. Written out, the words are completely different, but when it's spoken it sounds very similar.

The New York Times was right on with the conclusion that this was a protest against censorship in China. It's interesting they haven't banned the video outright because the government is pretty efficient about blocking everything else. I think the creator found an interesting gray area that the government doesn't want to deal with. One because the the delivery method is so subversive - packaged in a candy coat, hiding the poison. But secondly, it could be argued either way, couldn't it?

Also on a side note: Slate noticed that every culture uses insults based on the following themes: "your opponent's family, your opponent's religion, sex, and scatology." Just something to think about.