Bei becomes annual buzzword

Ordinary Chinese people have given new meaning to the character "bei," which normally indicates the passive voice and which was chosen as "character of the year" in 2009.

An online poll, jointly conducted by a linguistic research center under the Ministry of Education and the State-run Commercial Press, selected "bei" as the character of the year.

In addition to its traditional connotations, these days the character is employed by the Chinese to express a sentiment deeper than just the passive voice. It is used to convey a sense of helplessness in deciding one's own fate.